Test cricket under lights finally arrives at the subcontinent with India and Bangladesh both set to play their maiden pink ball Test at Eden Gardens on Friday.
This will be the 12th pink ball encounter in the history of Test cricket, four years after Australia and New Zealand played the first ever Test under lights on November 27, 2015.
Let us take a look at some of the interesting stats from the 11 previous pink ball Tests.
Australia is the only team to have a 100 per cent record in day-night Tests, winning all five games they’ve played. Sri Lanka is the second best team in the format, having won two of their three matches. They’re also the only visiting team to register victories in day-night Tests.
Interestingly, all previous pink ball international matches have been decisive with none ending in draws. In those matches, on four occasions the host team have managed a victory by an innings.
England set the record for the biggest victory, when they beat the West Indies by an innings and 209 runs. That particular match lasted three days as England picked up 19 wickets on the final day.
In terms of individual performances, among batsmen, Azhar Ali holds the record for the highest score when he smashed an unbeaten 302 against West Indies in 2016. His teammate Asad Shafiq remains the only batsman to score two centuries against the pink ball.
Both of Shafiq’s centuries came in the fourth innings of a Test and unfortunately ended with Pakistan losing the games by fine margins. 14 batsmen have scored tons in day-night Tests.
Azhar Ali goes big!
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 14, 2016
First day-night Test 100 ✔️
First day-night Test 200 ✔️
First day-night Test 300 ✔️ pic.twitter.com/N5nEOGUW1Q
Among bowlers, Mitchell Starc leads the pack with 26 wickets and his new ball partner Jos Hazlewood comes next with 21 wickets.
On eight occasions, pacers have taken five-wicket hauls in day-night Tests while, spinners have managed to do so on five occasions which includes two leg-spinners, one off-spinner and one left-arm spinner.
Devendra Bishoo’s figures of eight for 49 against Pakistan is the best ever figures in a pink ball match.
The Adelaide Oval is considered the home of day-night Tests after hosting the first ever match. The venue has since seen two more such matches and will be hosting another one this year when Australia play Pakistan.
The Dubai International Cricket Stadium and the Gabba at Brisbane have hosted two day-night Tests each.
Kensington Oval(West Indies), Edgbaston (England) St George’s Park (South Africa) and Eden Park (New Zealand) are the other venues to have hosted pink ball Tests.
The Eden Gardens at Kolkata, which had earlier hosted a World Cup final in 1987, will become the eighth venue to host a Test match under lights.
