Ahead of the highly anticipated Day-Night Test between India and Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens, retired Australian umpire Simon Taufel has said that sighting the pink ball during the twilight period will be a challenge and thus he called for the umpires to attend some training sessions to get used to the new colour.
Read Also: Sourav Ganguly confirms tickets for first four days of Day-Night Test sold out
Taufel, who was present at the first-ever pink ball Test between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide as ICC Umpire Performance and Training Manager, also suggested the umpires to use artificial lenses for better viewing.
"I don't know whether they will wear any special lenses to see the ball differently. That's entirely up to them. But they will be attending as many net sessions as possible," Taufel told PTI.
"They will be going through their net session and simulation activities. Maybe trying to see some practice session with the pink ball so that they are pretty confident of seeing the right things at the right time," he said.
"You have a twilight period when the light changes as it goes from very bright to sunshine to artificial light. That period is more challenging for the batsmen to pick up the ball. I would expect a similar type of challenge for the umpires as well. It will be as hard and challenging for the umpires as well," he added.
Both India and Bangladesh are among the four Test playing nations who are yet to feature in a Day-Night Test. While some of the Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami and Wriddhiman Saha have faced the pink ball challenge in domestic cricket, none of the Bangladeshi players have the same experience.
No wonder, Taufel feels the visitors will have to be extra cautious.
"I am not aware if Bangladesh have played any first-class cricket with the pink ball. Between both the teams they (Bangladesh) have the biggest challenge to play the toughest format of the game, the pinnacle of the sport with the new colour ball that they are not used to playing with."
Although Indian pacers are in terrific form in the ongoing home season, Taufel advised the Bangladesh batsmen to be aware of spinners.
"If I was a batsman I would be more focused on making sure that your technique is to understand the Indian seamers. Having said that you disrespect the spinners at your peril. Look at the quality of Indian spinners with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav (in reserves)."
Asked if the pink ball Test will revive the longest format, Taufel said, "It's important to realise that playing day/night Test is probably not going to solve all the challenges faced by Test cricket."
"Probably it will help in raising some awareness and offering more people to see it in a different time zone. But if you think it's the answer to get more people to watch Test cricket or play Test cricket, it will go some of the way but not all the way," he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
