India to play day-night Test in Adelaide: Sourav Ganguly

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Agency :
The first India-Australia Test match will be a pink-ball affair, to be played under lights in Adelaide, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed. India’s tour of Australia will commence in November-end – three T20 internationals and as many ODIs will be followed by four Tests.
“Cricket Australia has sent us an itinerary. We will play three T20Is, three ODIs and four Tests there. The first Test will be a day-night game in Adelaide. The dates haven’t been finalised yet,” Ganguly told The Sunday Express after the BCCI’s Apex Council meeting on Saturday. The meeting was held via video conference, with the BCCI president attending it from Kolkata.
The meeting also discussed the plans to organise domestic cricket this season against the backdrop of a Covid surge in the country. As of now, the BCCI hopes to have a truncated domestic season.
 “It might not be possible to hold all the tournaments for practical reasons. But we hope to have a full-fledged Ranji Trophy from early January and at least one limited-overs tournament,” Ganguly said.
The BCCI has two premier men’s limited-overs tournaments at senior level – the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50 overs) and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20).
Ganguly had earlier informed the state associations and affiliated units that the Indian cricket team “will continue to fulfil its FTP commitments”, while stating that the Board would wait for the coronavirus situation in the country to get better before starting the domestic season.
“The BCCI and the Indian cricket team will continue to fulfil its FTP commitments. The senior Indian men’s team will travel to Australia for its series starting in December this year and will come back to the country for a series against England starting in February next year,” he had written in his letter in August.
With regards to domestic cricket, Ganguly’s letter had stated: “In the domestic cricket context, we are currently in the off season and the BCCI is making all efforts to ensure that domestic cricket resumes as and when the conditions permit. The health and safety of players and all others involved in domestic cricket is of utmost importance to BCCI and we are constantly monitoring all aspects.”
The BCCI is optimistic about hosting England for a Test series early next year and as Ganguly informed, no backup venue has been picked yet. “It’s still four months away. We will take a call in due course,” he said.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that nobody from the BCCI will file nomination for the post of the International Cricket Council (ICC) chair. The ICC has set October 18 deadline for its Board of Directors to propose candidates for the post.
The position has been lying vacant since Shashank Manohar stepped down more than three months ago. The ICC elevated its deputy chairman Imran Khwaja to “assume the responsibilities of the Chairperson until a successor is elected”.
The global body intends to conclude the election process of its next chair “by early December”.

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