Team India could well make their pink ball debut against the touring Bangladesh side next month in Kolkata.
Among the major Test playing nations, India are one of selected few teams not to have featured in a Day-Night Test. But with Sourav Ganguly taking charge as BCCI boss, the No.1 side could well play their first Test under lights against the touring Bangladesh side next month in Kolkata from November 22-26.
In fact, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has already confirmed that it has received a proposal from BCCI to play one of the two World Test Championship fixtures as a Day-Night pink-ball affair at the iconic Eden Gardens.
Read: India puts forward plan to host D/N Test at Eden Gardens; Bangladesh yet to decide
While Ganguly’s effort to keep Test cricket healthy is laudable, the Indian cricket board still has some logistical issues to sort out. The main concern is arranging the quality pink balls that will work in Indian conditions.
Three years ago, the board's technical committee headed by Ganguly, had decided to do an experiment with Duleep Trophy being played with pink balls. Unfortunately, the trial programme wasn’t quite heartening.
The BCCI had tried SG balls before switching to the Dukes. The major issue was that the balls started losing their colour and tended to get soft after the first 20 overs.
"The Indian grounds are not as soft as the ones in England or Australia. They are rough and the balls didn't retain shape and colour after 20-30 overs," a top BCCI official told TOI.
The board had asked SG to produce quality pink balls for this year's Duleep Trophy. However, it took a U-turn and played the tournament with traditional red balls.
While the official reason given was lack of interest of broadcasters to broadcast games, sources said wet conditions in early September were a deterrent. The final was supposed to be played with pink balls but the board decided against it.
When the same newspaper enquired BCCI GM (cricket ops) Saba Karim about the same, he didn’t respond.
If the BCB accepts BCCI’s proposal and the Day-Night Test takes place, it will need a decent 'library' of pink balls – Dukes or Kookaburra.
"The board will need over 24 new balls at least to give to the teams for practice and play the match. Then there's the need to have a library where you have replaceable balls at any point. That's the tough part," the official said.
(Inputs from TOI)