Seventeen wickets fell on the first day of first-class cricket in India with the pink ball, but it was largely because of poor shot-making rather than any demons that the pink ball bore
The Report by Arun Venugopal23-Aug-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSandeep Sharma profited from seam movement and took 4 for 62•AFP
India Red and India Green approached the country’s maiden first-class game with the pink ball with as much excitement as fear of the unknown – the fall of 17 wickets in the day might point to the latter – before coming out with the feeling that it wasn’t an entirely alien beast. It was by no means a jolt-free afternoon and night, though. India Red, having elected to bat, combusted to 161, before India Green hobbled their way to 116 for 7 when they weren’t busy fighting malfunctioning floodlights.The build-up to the game resembled a carnival rolling into town. Despite its usual thrills of stilted clowns and puppet shows, it is often the Ferris wheel that becomes the showstopper. When a sizeable crowd of flag-waving, chirpy fans made their way to the grass banks of the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, India’s latest domestic season had found its Ferris wheel, this one sheathed in pink.Bowlers surprised by pink ball durability
Pragyan Ojha and Kuldeep Yadav, who claimed three wickets apiece on the opening day, said they were surprised to see the pink ball retain its sheen even after a substantial period of play. A liberal coverage of grass on the pitch and a reasonably lush outfield may have contributed to that end.
“I think for the first time we never had a problem of maintaining the ball – you just have to rub, you don’t need anything to shine the ball,” Ojha said. “It was something we were experiencing for the first time. If we play with the red ball or the white ball there will be some changes to the ball, it deteriorates. I don’t think [it will be a problem for the spinners].”
Kuldeep, the left-arm wristspinner, admitted to finding it difficult to grip the ball initially. “I had to keep it rough. I think there is a lot of difference when compared to the red ball,” he told . “You get a lot more grip on the red ball, and a lot more turn. If you get used to the pink ball, you can get it to drift and turn. If the shine is maintained, it helps in getting drift and dip.”
He also said it was difficult to spot the shiny side of the ball while batting in the afternoon. “It becomes difficult for the batsmen to pick the ball when both sides of the ball retain their shine. There is no problem sighting the ball in the night,” he said.
The first session was instructive in tempering a few popular notions about the pink ball, like its exaggerated early swing, for instance. Exhibit A was provided by India Green’s Ashok Dinda and Sandeep Sharma, who got the new ball to seam a lot more than swing. Despite a grass coverage of 4mm on the pitch, there wasn’t any excessive lateral movement. That India Red slumped to 67 for 6 at the end of the first session was more a consequence of some poor shot-making, and good field-placements from India Green captain Suresh Raina, than any demons that lay hidden inside the pink ball.Dinda said during the tea break the ball stopped swinging and seaming once it had become relatively older, and thereby the bowlers were looking to target the stumps. He said there was no turn on offer, but there was enough evidence to the contrary with spinners accounting for six wickets. There was adequate assistance for both fingerspin and wristspin, with Pragyan Ojha and Jalaj Saxena of India Red, and Kuldeep and Akshay Wakhare of India Green getting fairly appreciable turn.On a day when wickets fell in a heap, Abhinav Mukund was the most successful batsman on either side. Mukund’s 77 was instrumental firstly in India Red reaching triple figures, and then his 50-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Anureet Singh, who swished his way to 32 off 21, helped the team cross 150.Mukund admitted to having trouble with sighting the ball at practice on Monday, but said there were no such issues during the match. “I was timing the ball well personally. I couldn’t sight it quite well in the nets yesterday, but today was better and it was a good experience,” he said after the first day’s play.”To be honest, I didn’t have much of a problem [sighting] today. I thought I was timing the ball and getting into good positions. The ball was holding on to the wicket sometimes, sometimes [it was] skidding on. It’s a new experience. We don’t play with the Kookaburra in domestic cricket; it’s a new experience for a lot of cricketers.”India Green had begun in similarly shaky fashion, with Nathu Singh accounting for all the three wickets that fell inside the first eight overs. Nathu, like Sandeep earlier in the evening, profited when he held the seam upright. Robin Uthappa was dismissed by a jaffa that cut back sharply to shave the top of off stump in the seventh ball of the innings, while Jalaj Saxena slashed one that didn’t bounce as much to be caught behind. Nathu’s swerving in-ducker in his next over caught Rajat Paliwal on the shuffle to leave India Green at 31 for 3. Raina and Parthiv Patel then restored calm with a 41-run stand. But after Kuldeep ran through the middle order, Saurabh Tiwary, the last recognised batsman, remained the key to India Green securing the first-innings advantage.