5 reasons why pink-ball Day-Night Test is the future

As the practical problems of playing Test cricket under floodlights continue to be discussed and debated, there is no doubt over the fact that pink-ball Tests are already a huge crowd favourite. It is here to stay and its popularity will continue to rise.

Therefore, the greatest achievement of Day-Night Tests is that it has been able to rejuvenate popular interest in the longest format of the game. A huge number of people have come to watch the matches or tuned in on television for all the matches so far.

Here are five reasons why pink-ball Test cricket is the future.

#1 Re-establishing the balance between the bat and ball

The history of Day-Night Tests is still a short one but debates have already been raging about the different behaviour of the pink ball. Though many have contested this claim, the popular consensus is that the pink ball swings and nips more than its red counterpart.

Even if it has nothing to do with the ball, the conditions might have as much to do with it. The evening session with the night setting in might be the hardest as batsmen have claimed that it gets a little difficult to spot the ball.

And with the lights taking effect, plus the moisture and coldness in the air, it certainly does a bit for the bowlers. The recent example was the great spell by Stuart Broad as he tore into the West Indies batsman in their first ever Day-Night Test.

Many batsmen are understandably unhappy about it but anything that tilts the balance back in favour of the bowlers is always welcome. Instead of flat belters with batsmen scoring heaps, we get to see good, old swing bowling again.

#2 Watching Test under floodlights is beautiful

Test might have had a rebirth with the Day-Night format

Ever since the first Day-Night Test was played, some breathtaking photographs and visuals have emerged from the field of play under floodlights. Let’s admit it. Watching Test under floodlights is beautiful.

It has a romance of its own so much so that you feel Test cricket has been re-born now is a different avatar. This was exactly the rationale that went into it in the first place because there was an ardent need to re-package Test cricket to make it palatable to a generation drunk on T20s.

If we look back to the adoption of coloured clothing and introduction of Day-Night matches in the ODI format, we have to remember how the change revolutionised the game. And the many moments of wonderful magic that ODI cricket has given us since like those matches in Sharjah in the 90s.

Test cricket in its nascent journey to reinvent itself might be at that stage now. That journey has just begun and this is a step in the right direction.

#3 Already a favourite with the spectators

Day-Night Test crowd

Test cricket seems to be succeeding in its mission to re-invent itself and interest spectators once more by introducing the Day-Night format. The Day-Night Tests that have taken place, particularly the two in Adelaide and the recently concluded one at Edgbaston, have pulled in a record number of crowd.

The first pink ball Test between Australia and South Africa drew a record crowd of 47,441 on the first day and close to one million people tuned in on television for the last session of the day.

For the Edgbaston Test, nearly 70,000 tickets were sold for the first three days with days two and three being totally sold out. What was further heartening is the fact that nearly 40% of the tickets were purchased by spectators who had never been to a stadium to watch a cricket match.

The three Tests in Australia and the one in England also registered a significantly higher television audience and have already broken viewership records. The format is certainly more watchable because a large number of people usually return home from work in the evening.

The Day-Night format for Tests in already a runaway success commercially. If it was designed to bring people back to watching Tests, it seems to be splendidly succeeding so far in its mission.

#4 Much more result-oriented

All Day-Night Test have yielded a result

One step to ensure that Test matches are not boring, five-day draws is to see if more of them can be made positively result-oriented. While that quite legitimately has its critics who feel it would be a step towards introducing the T20 element in Tests, it does make Test cricket far more watchable.

Day-Night Tests is obviously a big step in that direction because the swinging ball and the difficulties batsmen face under floodlights means more wickets will fall and the matches are less likely to be unexciting draws.

Indeed, all five of the Day-Night Tests have yielded results which support the hypothesis that this is obviously a more result-oriented format. And if many of these matches do finish fast, the ICC might even introduce the Thursday-Sunday four-day Day-Night Test which it has been mulling over.

Whichever way it goes, the format seems to be exciting and it is pulling crowds in like never before.

#5 It marks the evolution of the game

From Red to White and now on to Pink - Cricket is evolving as we know it

Though cricket is played by a fewer number of countries than many other popular sports, what makes it unique is that it is the only sport that can boast of having three different formats. The game is continuously changing and evolving to redeem itself.

And that’s where the Day-Night Test is important because it is another crucial evolution which marks just another logical step in its progression. It is almost like a fourth format which has attracted spectators and given Test cricket an exciting makeover.

Misbah-ul-Haq had pointed out how the Day-Night Test is an important step in the evolution and progress of the game.

"It's worth trying in my opinion. First the one-day (internationals) came, then Twenty20 came so it's a good step to keep Test cricket alive. The timings of the match are different, it will be different," he said.

Jason Holder echoed him when he said, “Test cricket needs that bit of impetus, needs a bit of a push. I think possibly day and night cricket could be it."

And though it is still unclear whether the BCCI want India to host a Day-Night Test anytime soon, Virat Kohli was the first Indian to publicly support it.

He said, "As I said, it is a step towards something. If it is officially put into place it will be something different, it will be something exciting. As cricketers, we all should be willing and be accepting of the fact that we need to step forward and contribute to the game however possible.

“If this is a step towards improving the excitement and the popularity of Test cricket, then I think every team should be in for it."