KOLKATA: Between them, the trio has played 299 Tests with the red cricket ball and scored 19,624 runs. Now they see pink as the colour of the future.
Sourav Ganguly said India should hold a pink ball Test before the year is out. India play at least eight Test sat home in 2016. Ganguly said any centre could hold the historic Test making light of the dew that could make gripping the ball difficult. “These days they have sprays to counter that,” said Ganguly on Thursday, two days before Eden Gardens holds India’s first pink ball match.
Such sprays have been used for a decade now but it’s not been an unqualified success. Yet, typical of the way he led India, Ganguly wasn’t fazed by that or any other possible problem the pink ball may throw up. “Let’s get started. As we go on, we will get better. Just like cricket did with helmets, bats and more,” said the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president.
Asked whether India needed evening Tests more than Australia and England, VVS Lax man avoided a direct answer but said playing after sundown contributed to the idea of a complete entertainment package. The timing of play is important and pink is facilitating that, he said. The BCCI’s slotting a number of Tests this year in Tier 2 cities is also a way of promoting the longest format, said Laxman.
To that Dean Jones added the importance of having traditional Test days. “Pink alone won’t change the way Tests are perceived. India also needs traditional days for Tests. In Australia, we know the Boxing Day Test will be held in Melbourne, Gabba will hold a Test in the first week of December, and Sydney one in the first week of January. It helps plan your Test match experience,” said Jones, who is here to commentate on the match, the first CAB Super League final between Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore.
{{/usCountry}}To that Dean Jones added the importance of having traditional Test days. “Pink alone won’t change the way Tests are perceived. India also needs traditional days for Tests. In Australia, we know the Boxing Day Test will be held in Melbourne, Gabba will hold a Test in the first week of December, and Sydney one in the first week of January. It helps plan your Test match experience,” said Jones, who is here to commentate on the match, the first CAB Super League final between Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore.
{{/usCountry}}Previous experiments have suggested that pink balls need grass cover on the pitch and the adjoining wickets and Ganguly said that will be adhered to. They have also suggested that the balls don’t last 80 overs but Ganguly said no exception would be made.