Team India might have registered an emphatic 10-wicket victory over England in the Day-Night Test, but the BCCI is rethinking about hosting the pink ball Test in future after taking feedback from the national players.
According to a report published in The Indian Express, the Indian team management, in its feedback, has complained about the visibility of the pink ball, which also skids faster than the red cherry, making life difficult for the batters.
“What the players say is important. We will take a call soon on whether we should host pink-ball Tests in the future,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.
Spinners took 28 out of the 30 wickets that fell in the third Test between India and England, with most of the batsmen being dismissed by the straighter ball that skidded on.
“The problem when facing the pink ball is that it skids much faster compared to the red ball. Muscle memory makes batsmen believe that the ball will come at a particular speed after pitching, like they are used to when playing with the red ball. But the pink ball comes much faster. This is a major issue. Also, our players are not keen to play Day-Night Tests because the pink ball has too many variables, including difficulty in sighting the ball,” a member of the Indian team management told The Indian Express.
The Day-Night Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium finished inside two days, dividing opinion among pundits and fans on the quality of the pitch.
England were bowled out for 112 and 81, while India scored 145 in the first innings before chasing a 49-run target without any hiccup.
After the match, India opener Rohit Sharma, who made 66 and 25 not out, had said: “The red ball does not come on so quickly onto the bat. It also has got to do with the conditions in the evening. The temperature goes down a degree or two plus there’s the dew factor as well. But all in all, the pace of the pink ball is slightly quicker than the red ball. It is something that we need to adjust to as quickly as possible and understand what we need to do.”
Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel, who earned the Player-of-the-Match for his 11 wickets in the game, addressed a press conference and said: “I feel there is a little more glare on the pink ball because of which the ball was skidding a little more off the wicket, and I got LBW decisions because of that. Maybe because of this difference between the red ball and the pink ball, I was getting the ball to skid more off this pitch.”
Speaking on the same, an India player anonymously told The Indian Express: “The pitch was as good as the Chennai track (for the first two Tests). If we had played with the red ball here, the game would have lasted four days.”
Before this game, India had staged only one Day-Night Test and it was against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in November 2019, in which the hosts outclassed their neighbours by an innings and 46 runs inside three days.
During their second pink ball Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2020, India got bowled out for their lowest-ever total of 36 to succumb to an eight-wicket defeat.
