Indian cricketers are getting ready to experience their first-ever day/night pink-ball Test match. Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir feels that picking the wrist-spinners are hugely difficult under the lights. He also pointed out that the captains will now need to use their pacers differently unlike the day Tests.
India and Bangladesh are ready to begin their new journey in day/night pink-ball Test match. From this Friday (22nd November), they will play this historic Test match at Eden Gardens (Kolkata), which will be also their second and final Test of this series.
Gautam Gambhir is really excited to see India’s first-ever experience with the pink ball. While Gambhir has experienced the pink Kookaburra ball, Indian players are ready to begin their pink-ball Test experience with the SG ball.
During the 2016/17 Duleep Trophy, Gautam Gambhir led India Blue who won that trophy. It was the day/night pink-ball first-class cricket format where Gambhir scored 356 runs in five innings with an average of 71.20. The left-handed batsman scored four half-centuries in that tournament, including his best knock of 94 runs.
Talking about his experience, Gautam Gambhir has claimed that it is difficult to pick the wrist spinners under the lights.
Gambhir said on Nerolac Cricket Live, “I am really excited to see how this pink ball behaves because I have played with the Kookaburra ball which behaves much differently. One thing I realized was under the lights it was really difficult to pick the wrist spinner.”
During the 2016/17 Duleep Trophy, the wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who is a left-arm chinaman, finished as the most wicket-taker as he took 17 wickets in three matches.
Gautam Gambhir also talked about the importance of the pacers in the day/night Test
Gautam Gambhir has also pointed out that the captains need to use fast bowlers differently. In the red-ball day Test cricket, the captains use the fast bowlers in the morning. But they are now likely to use them under the lights during the day/night pink-ball Test match.
Gambhir further added, “Another thing is that captains will now need to use their fast bowlers differently; in red-ball cricket they use them early in the morning but in the day-and-night matches, they will probably have to use them under lights as well.”
The day/night pink-ball Test match is going to be played between 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM local time (IST).