BCCI orders six dozen pink balls for Day-Night Test
What's the story
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked manufacturer SG to deliver 72 pink balls by next week for India's first-ever Day-Night Test match against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens. India and Bangladesh will be playing their maiden D/N Test next month, starting November 22. Earlier, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed that SG pink balls will be used.
Challenge
Producing international quality pink balls will be a big challenge
The pink balls manufactured by SG is yet to be tested in a competitive game. The Duleep Trophy was played with Kookaburra pink balls for three seasons and not SG. Meanwhile, SG faced strong criticism from some Indian players alongside skipper Virat Kohli saying that the red ball got scuffed up way too early in comparison to the Dukes and Kookaburra.
Demand
BCCI has ordered six dozen pink balls: SG's Paras Anand
"The BCCI has ordered six dozen pink balls and we will deliver them by middle of next week," SG's sales and marketing director, Paras Anand, told PTI on Wednesday. "As you have seen in the South Africa series, we made significant improvements with our red 'SG Test' and we have the same level of research and development for pink ball."
Quality
Anand looking to produce top quality balls
Anand said they are up for the challenge of making good quality pink balls. "We were told last week about a possible requirement of pink balls so we were ready. Though the match is happening now, we have been working on the ball since the 2016-17 season and are in constant touch with BCCI. It is a challenge but we are up for it."
Improvement
Anand confident of making improvements with pink balls
One of the issues with the pink ball is that it attracts more dust and makes things difficult. "The coating process is different for both the balls and yes the pink one does attract more dust. Having said that, if we can make significant improvements with the red ball in a short time, we can do the same with the pink," he said.
Curator
Ex-BCCI chief curator makes suggestions for D/N Test at Eden
Former BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh on Wednesday proposed more grass on the pitch and lesser of the same than usual on the outfield for the D/N Test at Eden. "To counter dew, you have to have thin grass cover on the outfield and taller than usual grass on pitch. The heavier the outfield, the more, it will attract dew," the 77-year-old said.