Kohli open to playing day-night Test in Australia

KOLKATA: Skipper Virat Kohli said Sunday India was open to playing a day-night Test in Australia after the world number one ranked team crushed Bangladesh in just over two days of their international “pink-ball” debut.

Day-night Tests with teams using a brighter pink ball instead of the classic red are a relatively new innovation, and India last year refused to consider playing one during their tour of Australia.

But Kohli, who made 136 in India’s first innings against Bangladesh, said he felt his team was now ready for the challenge away from home if the schedule was planned well in advance. “I think a good practise game before that and enough time to prepare — we’re open to doing anything,” Kohli told reporters when asked if India would play one in Australia next year. “You can’t just play it on a short notice, like I mentioned last time. If there’s time to prepare, we’re open to take up Test cricket in any manner.”

Australian skipper Tim Paine took a cheeky dig at Kohli when asked about scheduling the first India Test in Brisbane, where the hosts completed a dominant victory over Pakistan Sunday. “We’ll certainly try but we’ll have to run that by Virat,” Paine quipped after the Test win. “I’m sure we’ll get an answer from him at some stage.”