"I am slightly emotional about this" - Jay Shah says BCCI doesn't want to host pink-ball Tests
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah said on Wednesday, August 14, that the board isn't keen on hosting pink-ball Tests. This is because as the game ends in two to three days, the audience doesn't get value for their money.
India have played four pink-ball Tests - three at home against Bangladesh, England, and Sri Lanka and one away against Australia in Adelaide. None of the games went to the fourth day and two didn't even see a third day, with bowlers dominating thanks to the more pronounced seam movement and turn with the pink cherry.
"On pink ball Tests: You buy a ticket for a five-day match, but the game ends in two-three days... There is no refund. I am slightly emotional about this," Shah told the press.
This is a big switch in BCCI's position regarding the pink-ball Tests. When India played the first such game in November 2019 against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens, then-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly marked it as a big celebration in Kolkata and called the heavy crowd turnout a "huge step forward" for Tests.
India are also slated to play a pink-ball Test against Australia in the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy, with Adelaide again playing host.
India rejected Bangladesh's request to host Women's T20 World Cup, Jay Shah reveals
Jay Shah also revealed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) approached the BCCI to host the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup amid the political crisis in the country but the Indian board declined.
"Next year, we'll host the 50-overs women's World Cup. We do not want to give any signal that we want to host consecutive World Cups," he said in the same meet.
A sudden change of government in Bangladesh has worsened an already tense situation, which had seen widespread protests and the deaths of over 300 people. Several senior BCB officials have also left the country.
The ICC has only mentioned that it was "monitoring" the situation while media reports have said it's looking at countries with similar timezones to host the World Cup instead. Sri Lanka and the UAE could still be under consideration.