Top performing teams, batsmen and bowlers: All pink-ball Test records you need to know
With an aim to see Test matches attract more crowds, the ICC colored the red ball pink, charged up the floodlights and reworked the lunch break into dinner. However, international teams have been slow to adapt to pink-ball Test matches, still preferring the traditional morning-start games.
14 men's pink-ball Tests have seen audience till now and all have ended in a win for one of the teams. Half of these games had Australia as one of the participants. Pakistan has played four pink-ball Tests, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka have played three, and West Indies two.
India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have played one day/night Test each as well.
With India set to begin its first overseas pink-ball assignment on Thursday, it's only appropriate to look back at all the top performers till now.
Top-performing teams with the pink ball
When the Aussies defeated New Zealand in the first-ever pink-ball Test in 2015, it was just a harbinger of things to come. In their 7 days/night Tests, Australia has dominated every team they have come across and stand undefeated.
It is the most successful team in terms of victories. The Aussies have played all their games at home and have beaten New Zealand and Pakistan twice.
Sri Lanka is second on the list with two wins out of three. It bested Pakistan in Dubai (2017) and West Indies in Bridgetown (2018) before losing to Australia in 2019. England, South Africa, New Zealand, India have won one pink-ball Test each. Whereas, West Indies and Bangladesh have won none.
Interestingly, England holds the contrasting twin feats of the highest victory margin (by runs) and the lowest first-innings total in a pink-ball Test.
It defeated a spineless West Indies by an innings and 209 runs three years ago courtesy Alastair Cook's double ton. Then next year, Trent Boult and Tim Southee went on a rampage to restrict Joe Root's side to a paltry 58.
Australia holds the record for the highest first-innings team total - 589. Pakistan held the mark for three years with its 579 before conceding 10 more against the Aussies in 2019.
Top-performing batsmen with the pink ball
Besides increasing the audience involvement, the pink-ball Test has also added some undiscovered facets to the game.
One of these is the twilight phase. At this time of the day, it becomes challenging for the batsmen to spot the pink ball. Effectively, this allows batters to dominate in the first and third sessions while bowlers can take charge in between.
Not many batsmen have been able to make use of this change but those who have, have piled heaps of runs. At the pinnacle of the highest score in a pink-ball Test is Australian opener, David Warner.
In 2019, Warner clobbered Pakistani bowlers for fun to reach the country's second-highest individual score of 335 not out. This knock was weaved with 39 fours and a six. Azhar Ali's 302 not out, which came in Pakistan's pink-ball debut in 2016, is second in the list followed by Alaistair Cook's 243.
Warner also holds the record for highest aggregate runs in pink-ball Tests with a staggering 596, the lion's share of it acquired by that triple ton. Steve Smith and Azhar Ali follow him closely with totals of 500 and 474, respectively.
Pink-ball Tests seem to bring the best out of Pakistan's Asad Shafiq and Australia's Marnus Labuschagne. Both jointly hold the record of most hundreds - 2. In total, pink-ball Tests have seen 19 centurions. These include the fab-4 of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson.
One surprising name in the list is Pakistan's leg spinner Yasir Shah who high-scored for his team against Australia with a sublime 113 in 2019.
Top-performing bowlers with the pink ball
Though his Test performances have gone downhill in the last few years, Mitchell Starc is the uncrowned champion of bowlers when it comes to the pink ball. The 30-year-old towering quick has a staggering 42 wickets in 7 pink-ball Tests embellished with 2 five-fors in the last two games.
Against New Zealand in 2019, the left-arm pacer ran through every crucial Kiwi batsmen with sheer pace and unparalleled control to restrict them to 166 and 171 runs in their two innings. No wonder that, Australian players are eager to see him play in Adelaide even if he gets only a couple of days to prepare.
Starc boasts of the best figures of 6/66 that came against Pakistan in their last game. Tailing him is his fast-bowling partner, Josh Hazlewood at 26 scalps with the best figures of 6/70. Two spinners, Nathan Lyon and Yasir Shah, also feature in the list with their 23 and 18 wickets.
West Indian leg spinner Devendra Bishoo was the first bowler to have a 10-wicket haul in pink-ball Tests. It came against Pakistan in 2016. On the way to this feat, Bishoo also made the hitherto best bowling figures in a day/night Test innings with his spell of 8/49.
The only other bowler with a 10-for in pink-ball Tests is Pat Cummins who reached the feat against Sri Lanka last year.
Indian batsmen will certainly have their task cut out against the Australian quadrant, all of whom feature in this list. Thursday's clash will be international cricket's 15th pink-ball outing. India will also host England in a day/night Test match in 2021.
Though growing at a slow but steady pace, pink-ball cricket has already shown much promise. The most intriguing facet of this new innovation is the parity between batsmen and bowlers. However, it is to be seen if the pink-ball matches can keep interest in Test cricket afloat against the ever-burgeoning draw of T20 cricket.