India's Kohli open to playing day-night Test in Australia
Kohli's side won by an innings and 46 runs after bowling out Bangladesh for 195.
KOLKATA (AFP) - Skipper Virat Kohli said Sunday India was open to playing a day-night Test in Australia after the world number one ranked team crushed Bangladesh in just over two days of their international "pink-ball" debut.
Kohli s side won by an innings and 46 runs after bowling out Bangladesh for 195 in less than an hour into day three in Kolkata to sweep the series 2-0.
Day-night Tests with teams using a brighter pink ball instead of the classic red are a relatively new innovation, and India last year refused to consider playing one during their tour of Australia.
But Kohli, who made 136 in India s first innings against Bangladesh, said he felt his team was now ready for the challenge away from home if the schedule was planned well in advance.
"I think a good practise game before that and enough time to prepare -- we re open to doing anything," Kohli told reporters when asked if India would play one in Australia next year.
"You can t just play it on a short notice, like I mentioned last time. If there s time to prepare, we re open to take up Test cricket in any manner."
Australian skipper Tim Paine took a cheeky dig at Kohli when asked about scheduling the first India Test in Brisbane, where the hosts completed a dominant victory over Pakistan Sunday.
"We ll certainly try but we ll have to run that by Virat," Paine quipped after the Test win. "I m sure we ll get an answer from him at some stage." He added: "Maybe even get a pink-ball Test if he s in a good mood."
Buzz Created
India s first day-night Test was a grand affair with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in attendance on the opening day at Eden Gardens on Friday. India s new cricket chief, Sourav Ganguly, had been instrumental in convincing the teams to play under floodlights.
Kohli said it was crucial to "market Test cricket" to draw-in more spectators in an age where crowds were flocking to the more shwashbuckling limited-overs games. "If there s enough buzz created around Test cricket then there will be a lot more keenness to come to the stadiums," he said.
The latest series whitewash, the third in a row for India, consolidated their position at the top of the world Test championship, which took off this year to give the long form of the game greater.
Kohli s rampant side has won seven Tests in a row and recorded their 12th-straight series triumph on home soil on Sunday. But Kohli played down their dominance. "I think a more balanced format would be -- one series home, one away," Kohli said on the scheduling of the championship.
"As I said, we re playing very good cricket but we ve played only two Tests away (in West Indies) in the Test championship. India next play a limited-overs series against West Indies before heading to New Zealand for a tour that will include two Tests in January and February.
