A highly anticipated day-night Test between India and Australia is scheduled to begin on December 6 at the Adelaide Oval. Known as the “Pink Ball Test,” these matches are played with a pink ball instead of the traditional red one, and this fixture will kick off at 9:30 AM IST. Since the inaugural day-night Test in 2015, 22 such Tests have been played, all of which have produced results. Notably, 73% of these games ended within four or fewer days, with only six Tests extending to the full five days. The rest were concluded in less time, highlighting the aggressive nature of these matches.
The first-ever international day-night Test took place between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide Oval in 2015, a match Australia won by three wickets. Since then, Australia has played 12 day-night Tests, winning 11, with a sole defeat to the West Indies in 2023. On the other hand, India has participated in four pink-ball Tests, securing victories in three, with a loss in the one game played in Adelaide in 2020-21. That loss, an eight-wicket defeat, was part of India’s Australia tour and marked their only defeat in a pink-ball Test.
India’s pink-ball Test history includes three wins on home soil and one loss in Australia. The first such win came in November 2019 against Bangladesh, which India triumphed over in just three days. However, their only defeat came in Adelaide in December 2020, where the match ended in three days. India’s subsequent victories came in February 2021, when they beat England in a mere two days, and in March 2022, when they beat Sri Lanka in Bengaluru in three days.
India’s performance in Adelaide has been historically challenging, with the team playing 13 Tests here. Out of these, they have won only two matches, with eight losses and three drawn games. Australia’s record at the venue, however, is significantly stronger, with 82 Tests, 45 wins, 18 losses, and 19 draws.
As for the records in pink-ball Tests, there have been 27 centuries, with Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne leading with four. Virat Kohli is the only Indian to have scored a century in these Tests, achieving the feat in 2019 against Bangladesh. Notably, only two triple centuries have been scored in day-night Tests—one by Pakistan’s Azhar Ali and the other by Australia’s David Warner.
Looking at the overall record between India and Australia in Test cricket, the two teams have faced off in 108 matches, with Australia winning 45 and India winning 33, while 29 Tests have been drawn. In Australia, the two teams have played 53 Tests, with India winning 10 and Australia claiming 30 victories
