India-Sri Lanka pink-ball Test brings surface tension to its makers

The previous two day-night matches in India were short affairs, one dominated by pacers and the other by spinners. The Bengaluru pink-ball game starts on Saturday.

On the evidence of 18 day-night Tests played around the world, talk would generally revolve around the twilight hour when the pink ball would change tack to make batting against the quick bowlers much more challenging. But the 2021 India-England Test in Ahmedabad that ended inside two playing days—the shortest completed Test in terms of balls bowled since 1935—brought to the fore an entirely new conversation, of the havoc spinners could create by making the pigmented ball skid off an abrasive surface.

India all-rounder Axar Patel (BCCI)

“Our biggest anxiety is centered on the surface on which the match would be played because honestly, we did not make any drastic changes to the pink balls that were used in Kolkata (November 2019 vs Bangladesh) and Ahmedabad Tests,” Paras Anand, marketing director of sports goods maker SG, said ahead of the Bengaluru Test against Sri Lanka starting on Saturday.

The pitches on offer were diametrically opposite. The Kolkata surface had a grass cover of 6mm while there was no grass at Ahmedabad. At Kolkata, 27 of the 28 wickets fell to fast bowlers and the game finished in 161.2 overs. In Ahmedabad, 28 of the 30 went to spinners, with England losing in 140.2 overs. With both the Tests finishing way too early, the talk invariably veered towards the condition of the ball and the future of day-night Tests in India.

The ball-makers say their area of focus in a pink-ball Test revolves around colour retention. “We haven’t felt the need to make any significant changes. If anything, we are a lot more confident than we were 2-3 years ago, of our technology, that the ball will not lose its colour,” said Anand. “I don’t claim that we have become masters of making the pink ball. But red or pink, SG is still the ball best suited for Indian conditions.”

As for the ball skidding off the surface as it did for spinners in Ahmedabad, Anand said: “It’s the property of a pink ball. Unlike the red ball where people don’t mind if it gets dirty as long as it stays in shape and is travelling, here you have to protect the colour to ensure visibility under lights.” To aid visibility, extra layers of pigment are coated over the dull pink leather.

“We have worked on a harder core. But historically that’s not been the problem with SG. Based on our research, there will be further improvements. That’s an ongoing process. The technology is unique to us, so we will not be able to discuss in any great detail. We have to remember that the cricket ball is made of leather, which is a natural resource and so it will not be absolutely consistent. But the processes take care of pretty much everything.”

Be it a spinner-friendly surface or a pitch with good grass cover that sees the fast bowlers with their tails up, the short history of pink-ball Tests suggests that batting hasn’t been all that easy. A major contributing factor for the level of difficulty has been a lack of acclimatisation.

“It is quite different (to the red ball). Sometimes the batsmen can be caught with bat behind the pad because the ball has skidded faster than what you have been used to,” spinner R Ashwin said after the Ahmedabad Test. “To make an adjustment within a span of 5-6 days is not so easy. The more we play, the players will get better.”

It is learnt that BCCI has asked for eight dozen pink balls, not only to assist their players in training beforehand but to also build a library.

Based on the small sample size of two pink Tests in India, whether the Bengaluru pitch spins or seams it’s Sri Lanka who will lose sleep over the task ahead. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who took 11 wickets in the Ahmedabad pink-ball Test is fit and has been included in the squad. Ravindra Jadeja, in great form, will be licking his lips at the prospects of playing his first day-night Test. And India’s seam attack is more than capable of making the ball talk.