Friday

15


July , 2016
PINK IS THE NEW RED
00:00 am

Anustup Roy Barman


The pink ball made its debut in India with the super league final in Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Super division clubs,
Bhawanipore and Mohun Bagan AC, took on each other in this momentous match, which was the first day and night test
match in India. Mohun Bagan won the match. Muhammed Sami who took seven wickets, appreciated the new initiative
taken by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). So did Wriddhiman Saha, who has played for India and for Mohun Bagan in this match. According to the players, the new pink ball helped the fast bowlers more than the spinners.
Spinners got little help even after play of sixty overs whereas the ball had considerable swing and aided the seamers. The ball was easy to pick under the lights.

A panel discussion was held at the Eden Gardensearlier featuring former Indian captain and President of the CAB, Sourav Ganguly, formerIndian cricketer V.V.S. Laxman, Australiancricket legen Dean Jones, and famous cricket commentator Harsh Bhogle. They pros and cons of the pink ball. Sourav Ganguly said, “Itis a proud moment for CAB to host the first pink ball game in India at the Eden Gardens. I believe the pink ball will revolutionize test cricket in India and abroad.”

The Duleep Trophy will be played with the pink ball under the floodlights. Based on the experience of Duleep Trophy,the schedule of the test series between India and New Zealand will be finalized. There are chances of this series having one or more pink ball test matches.The madness about test cricket has been missing for some time now. Matches often witness near empty stands. The spectators cannot afford to miss work and watch a five-day match. ICC has come up with the new idea of day and night test match to reinvent this format and the pink ball might give test cricket a new lease of life. According to Sourav Ganguly, it is marketing, which makes things interesting. So if test cricket is packaged properly and can successfully woo back the viewers,then it will regain its importance.

The regular red ball is difficult to sight under the floodlights and the white ball is used for one day international cricket, so the pink ball is the alternative as test matches are played in whites. This new ball has the same constituency of the red variety. Both have same leather, cork measurement, and weight.The stitching material is also the same. The only difference is the colour and it has an extra film of pink to keep the colour. The leather is stitched with green to make it more visible under the lights.Matches already played with the pink ball have shown that dew has the same effect on the pink ball as the white ball. Dean Jones said that to make test cricket more acceptable to youngsters, the timings need to be changed.At least two sessions of the match should be played under lights, which will allow the spectators to flock to stadiums after work.

Test cricket needs to factor in the changed working pattern of the new generation to become a scoring format of the game once more. The pink ball might just swing things in its favour.

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