Why should Indian cricket fans be excited about 2016-17 cricket season?
They say you should never renovate your kitchen, because once you do, your living room suddenly looks like a bomb site and your bathroom is a crime scene. So if you are going to renovate, you might as well do it all the way. And that is exactly what Anurag Thakur, the newly crowned President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has done in his quest to revamp the domestic circuit and rebrand Test cricket in the country.
India's 2016-17 campaign will include 13 Tests, eight ODIs and three T20Is; in all, 13 Tests equal the record for the highest number of home Tests in a single season for the Men in Blue; the only other instance was in 1979-80. It will also go down as a world record for the number of Test matches in a home season.
So if you are one of those who says – “Test cricket is the real form of cricket”, then the 2016-17 season is one for your liking.
Day-night love affair with the Pink cherry
Following up on the recommendations of Sourav Ganguly and his Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced that the upcoming Duleep Trophy will be a day-night affair, wherein the pink ball will be used for the first time.
This year’s domestic season is expected to be played by cricketers hopeful of reigniting their test careers along with fresh, young talent waiting to make their mark at the international level, considering the upcoming 13 Test matches at home.
With the ambition of hosting the first D/N Match in Kolkata, the objective would be to receive feedback from players on how they feel, how the pitch conditions will be and how the dew will play a role. This experiment will help decide the viability of hosting a D/N Test match in October against New Zealand and lay the groundwork for the future.
With the tournament scrapped off last year due to a crowded schedule, this year’s tournament seems to be making a comeback with a bang. The change comes at a time when Test cricket is limping worryingly on its weak legs.