From 36 all out to runaway victories: India's performance in pink-ball Tests over the years

India will be playing only their fifth pink-ball Test match when they take on Australia at the Adelaide Oval starting from December 6 for the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This will be India's second day-night Test match away from home, with their previous day-night Test also taking place at the same venue. While that particular match initially brought disappointment to Indian fans, it is now looked back upon with fondness due to the remarkable events that followed.

India hosted pink-ball Test matches at three different venues across the country in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Here, we examine how each of their day-night Test matches has gone thus far.

The first-ever pink-ball Test that India played amid much fanfare with the buildup towards the match being akin to the start of a major tournament in Kolkata. It also happened to be pacer Ishant Sharma's 10th Test. Bangladesh had won the toss and chose to bat first. The pacers ruled the roost with Ishant taking five wickets and Umesh Yadav taking three as Bangladesh were all olut for a paltry 106 runs. Captain Virat Kohli scored 136 in 194 balls while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored half-centuries as India declared on 347/9 in reply. Once again, Bangladesh had no answers to India's pacers as Ishant took four wickets and Umesh took five to dismiss the visitors for 195 runs and India won their first pink-ball Test by an innings and 46 runs.

An iconic Test match for quite a few reasons. India won the toss and chose to bat first. Kohli led the way with a gritty 75 off 180 balls as India were all out for 244. Mitchell Starc took four wickets while Pat Cummins took three. India responded strongly with Ravichandran Ashwin getting a 4-fer and pacers Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah taking three and two wickets respectively as Australia were all out for 191 runs. India lost a wicket in the Prithvi Shaw at the end of Day 2 but were generally considered to be well ahead in the match. What followed in the first session of Day 3 was the kind of carnage that is rarely seen in Test cricket. India had lost five more wickets for 26 runs in the first hour. They lasted just over three overs after the drinks break and were all out for 36 runs, their lowest-ever Test score and the fourth-lowest in the history of the format. Australia chased down the target of 90 with eight wickets to spare. This was the first Test of the series but India miraculously went on to win two of the next three matches, leading to this match being seen in an entirely different light.

Another bizarre Test in which the only batters who made reasonable score were the two sides' respective openers Zak Crawley and Rohit Sharma. England had won the toss and chosen to bat first. They lasted just a little over a session and were all out for 112 runs, with Axar Patel taking six wickets and Ashwin taking three. India also lost three wickets and had scored 99 runs at the end of the first day. They were all out for 145 within the first session of the second day with Joe Root recording stunning figures of 5/8 and Jack Leach returning 4/54. Axar took five more and Ashwin took four as England were all out for 81 after which openers Rohit and Shubman Gill chased down the target of 49.

India's first pink-ball Test without Kohli as captain, Rohit won the toss and chose to bat. Shreyas Iyer smashed 92 in 98 balls as India were all out for 252 runs. Bumrah then took five wickets as Sri Lanka were cleaned up for 109 after which half-centuries from Iyer and Rishabh Pant helped India declare on 303/9, thus setting Sri Lanka a target of 447. Bumrah took three more wickets while Ashwin took four as Sri Lanka were all out for 208, thus losing the match by 238 runs. It would've been much worse for them, though, had it not been for captain Dimuth Karunaratne scoring 107 off 174 balls in their second innings.