Pink-ball destroyer Starc targets India day-night Test

The inclusion of Steve Smith and David Warner in the Australian line-up won't be the only new challenges India will face in this summer's Border-Gavaskar Test Series, with the teams expected to meet under lights for the first-time in Test cricket.

And fast bowler Mitchell Starc, the most prolific pink-ball wicket-taker in the game by some distance, cannot wait.

India's last tour in the 2018-19 summer, when they secured their first-ever series win on Australian soil, was played with four Tests in the traditional day-time slots after the BCCI refused to face the pink ball.

It was the first time since the inaugural day-night Test in 2015 that the Adelaide Oval had not held a day-night Test match, and delivered Australia's first loss at the venue since 2010 as Virat Kohli's side secured a 31-run win en route to a 2-1 series victory.

India played their first-day night Test last November when they hosted Bangladesh in front of a huge crowd at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, with a Virat Kohli century capping a massive win completed before dusk on the third afternoon.

That match has been part of a recent acceptance of day-night Test cricket by India, and Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has declared they would like to face Australia under lights.

"A formal announcement will come soon but we have decided to play a day-night test in Australia," Ganguly said in February, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Starc boasts an enviable record of 42 wickets at 19.23 from his seven day-night Tests, having played in every one since Australia first met New Zealand under lights in November 2015 in Adelaide.

Australia have led the way in playing pink-ball Tests since that pioneering event, and Starc admits experience in the format will give is team an advantage.

"I think absolutely a pink-ball Test in the series against India is a great thing," Starc said today.

"The fans love it, I think it creates a different aspect to the contest, bat and ball are closer together in that contest.

"India played a pink-ball game in India so they're not completely foreign to it.

"In terms of an advantage, if you like, we do have a good record at home with the pink ball.

"That might come into a home-ground advantage and it's no different to us going to India and they've got the advantage there.

"It'd be great to have a pink-ball contest in that series and from the little bits I've seen and heard, India are very much open to that as well so that's fantastic."

But the Australians may not have it all their own way.

The sample pool is just one Test match for India, but that game against Bangladesh yielded nine wickets for Ishant Sharma (9-78) and eight for Umesh Yadav (8-82). Mohammed Shami claimed the other two wickets to fall in that match (with one retired hurt) and Jasprit Bumrah – who claimed 21 wickets at 17 in the 2018-19 series in Australia – has not played a pink-ball Test yet.

Australia's seven day-night Tests are more than any other nation, but it remains unclear if they will get any exposure to the conditions before the Test against India.

There was no day-night round in last summer's Marsh Sheffield Shield competition, despite two pink-ball Tests, and this summer's domestic schedule is yet to be announced.

In the lead-up to last summer's double-header of day-night Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand, Australia coach Justin Langer said the switch from red ball to pink was just another example of his players needing to evolve.

"It's just adjusting," he said. "The only difference is the different colour (of the ball) and the best players adapt to it.

"They've got to adapt to a red ball, a pink ball and white ball. They've got to adapt to Test cricket, four-day cricket, one-day cricket, and T20 cricket.

"The best players are able to do that, and the best teams are able to do that."