A month after India extended an invitation to the Bangladesh Cricket Board to host them in a Day-Night Test, both the teams played their first-ever pink-ball game at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The five-day game was wrapped up in less than three at the iconic Eden Gardens, as Virat Kohli completed a 2-0 whitewash with an innings-and-46-run-win in the historic second Test of the series. The visitors were no match for India, whose pace trio of Ishant Sharma (9 wickets in the match), Umesh Yadav (8) and Shami (2) grabbed all 19 wickets.
But with India finally deciding to embrace the format, that made its international debut in 2015, there had been a lot of doubts, speculations and questions around the certain pink ball that was going to be used. Besides a handful of domestic games over the years, Indian cricketers had not been privy to how the ball was going to perform on Indian soil, keeping in mind the dew factor in the second half of day’s play.
So what was the final verdict? Here’s what the cricketers on the field, and even those off it, think of the pink ball’s debut in India.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli revealed that cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar suggested a few alterations. "He made very interesting points that probably with the pink ball, you'll have to treat the second session like the morning session, when it's getting darker and the ball starts to swing and seam. So first session, you invariably play like you play from lunch to tea, in a normal timing."
"The last session is like that evening session. So you're planning changes, you know your declaration, strategy timing, everything changes as a batsman, your setup changes. So even if you're set and you're batting well, as soon as it gets dark and the lights are on, you know, you can be in trouble very quickly."
"Luckily, I went in when the lights were on, so I didn't have to go through that transition, but I think that will be another challenge in future as well. But under the lights, it was a different experience. When I walked out, it felt like an IPL game atmosphere so you feel like smashing the first ball, but you have to remind yourself that you know you have to play compact," he smiled.
Sourav Ganguly
Visibility was one of the talking points in the run-up to the Test but BCCI President Sourav Ganguly felt sighting the pink ball is "easier" than the red ball, and the conditions not drastically different.
"The conditions were perfectly fine. There was worry about the dew, whether you would be able to bowl in the night. This Eden pitch has grass, it is not the old pitch anymore. If this was day four, day five, spinners would have slowly come into the game. "The fast bowlers have always got help here. I have not seen anything different with the red ball. When there are good conditions in England or during the winters in India, the ball does a bit. So, the conditions were fine.
"There were few words about the pink ball but it is only going to get better when you keep playing. You have to produce one ball once in 10 years, it is not going to be at its best (initially)."
Mominul Haque
Asked about his assessment of the pink ball, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque said: "Batting is difficult with the new ball. It becomes easy after the dew starts falling in."
Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma said the Indian pacers had to figure out the right length to bowl with pink ball after not getting any swing initially on Day One of the Test.
"It was a lot of different from red ball. Initially, we bowled the right length but did not get any swing. Then we realised at what length we have to hit and we discussed among ourselves and found out the right length to bowl with the pink ball," said Ishant after close of play.
After India’s win, Ishant said, “Pink ball is a little difficult, it didn't swing at the start and we need to adjust to the conditions. We have to hit the deck hard on length, especially during the day.”
Ajinkya Rahane
Indian batsman and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said batting under lights was a challenging task as the pink ball swings late under such conditions.
"As a batman I thought the first and the second session were easy to bat on. But under lights, with the late swing, it is challenging for batsmen. Twilight period is always challenging," Rahane said after the second day's play.
"In the first session, the ball comes on nicely with no lateral movement. Later with the dew coming in, the strategy should be different. You need to play positive cricket in the first session and capitalise on that," he added.
Cheteshwar Pujara
India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said facing the pink ball under lights, especially at twilight, was the most difficult task during their maiden Day-Night Test.
"Batting under lights was difficult but when we start playing under lights, it's a bit more challenging. The first session is slightly easier to bat when there are no lights. But when the lights come into play, the ball starts swinging a bit more. It's the most testing times of the day. It's easy to sight the ball under sunlight," Pujara said after the second day's proceedings.
"That (twilight) was the right time to bowl. The ball was swinging and we thought we can pick up early wickets. That was the right time and the dew wasn't there. Dew started after tea time." Pujara said the ideal time to bat with the pink ball is at the start of the innings and late into the final session.
"It's a mix of both. Once dew comes in it again becomes easier. It's the first couple of hours and maybe the last hour," Pujara said.
Having faced both Kookaburra (Duleep Trophy) and SG pink balls, Pujara said the latter swings a bit more and also gives assistance to the spinners.
"This ball is travelling fast from the bat like Kookaburra but SG swings a little bit more. Again there's not much assistance for spinners with Kookaburra but we saw both Ashwin and Taijul spinning the ball here. There's little assistance for spinners but it still not as much as the red ball."
Russell Domingo
Asked whether they had any visibility issues with the pink ball, Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo said, "Not at all. I mean when we started betting it was bright sunshine. No visibility issues at all, and in the first five or six overs, it looked like a flat wicket."
However, Domingo said the pink ball cannot replace the red ball experience. "We should never play the game. Look, I suppose on the odd occasion, there's nothing wrong with it. I don't think it's going to be the norm. I think the 10 o'clock start in the morning still gets everybody excited and nervous," Domingo said.
Bharat Arun
Indian bowling coach "We're an experienced bowling attack and the beauty of the attack is how quickly they adapt to situations. I thought they adapted well to pink ball. New Zealand will be a good challenge and we're looking forward to it."
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