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Players say pink ball still a work in progress
- Updated: September 16, 2016
The durability of the pink ball and its visibility under lights remain concerns among some of the players who featured in the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy, who largely feel the experiment needs to be carried out further in domestic cricket before India can host its first pink-ball Test match.
In the first match of the tournament, between India Red and India Green, the ball largely passed the visibility test, but the success came with a caveat: the game was played on a grassy pitch and lush outfield.
In fact, players admitted to being surprised by how the ball retained its glaze for long periods, and even complained that it took reverse-swing, an integral aspect of seam bowling in subcontinental conditions, out of play. The main issue that came up during the first two games was the ball going out of shape and having to be changed frequently.
In the later stages of the tournament, the BCCI decided to try the pink ball on drier and more abrasive pitches more akin to conditions usually found in India. This time the ball didn’t just lose shape, but also colour. India Red’s Abhinav Mukund, who scored a half-century and a century in the first match, said he faced difficulty in sighting the ball once it lost its sheen.
“That [visibility under lights] is a big factor,” Abhinav told ESPNcricinfo. “When it is scuffed up, the colour of the ball goes from pink to greyish. When you apply any natural substance on it, like sweat or saliva, it becomes black-ish. And when it hits the boundary ropes, it becomes even more grey-ish and then you have to change the ball.”
Dinesh Karthik, who scored 55 in India Blue’s first innings in the final, said he couldn’t pick the scuffed-up ball, and had to ask the umpires to take a look and possibly consider changing it. “I faced Nathu [Singh] and I didn’t pick a couple of balls,” Karthik said. “I couldn’t especially see a full-toss that took the edge of the bat and went for a boundary. I went and asked the umpire and he had a look and realised that the ball was scuffed up and it was really hard to pick.”
Both Abhinav and Karthik acknowledged the difficulty in spotting the seam, especially when the wristspinners were bowling. Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored an unbeaten 256 in the final, also mentioned this during the presentation ceremony, saying he had found it harder ot pick the googly.
It became quite evident when India Red’s Gurkeerat Singh and Stuart Binny were trying to hit their way out of trouble in the final against the spinners, often struggling to pick Karn Sharma’s googly. Neither batsman, despite scoring half-centuries, was fully in control, and often stepped out …