As India prepare to play their first ever Day-night Test when they take on Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in the second Test, Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami are the only two in the squad who have had previous experience with the pink-ball.
“I’ll prefer the pink ball any day, hope this pink-ball match prospers. The best thing is you get to bowl only one session under the sun. Then the ball starts talking once the lights are on,” Shami was quoted as saying by PTI.
“I got reverse swing in the first innings. I think if the condition is dry, the ball will reverse. The seam usually does not remain intact after 40 overs but it’s not the case with the pink ball,” Shami, who registered the first five wicket haul with a pink ball in the long format in India, said.
Wicket-keeper and Shami’s teammate, Saha however did not fare too well with the bat against the pink-ball and had been dismissed for duck.
“This will be a new challenge in front of us. We have not played Tests with the pink ball. I have been part of a domestic pink ball multi-day game. Challenge is there in every sport. The more you are challenged as a team, you get better and I am sure we will do that,” Saha told Times of India.
“I really don’t remember all of it. Shami bowled really fast and we (Mohun Bagan) won. One thing I remember is sometimes it was becoming difficult to pick the ball.”
The first day-night Test took place in 2015 between Australia and New Zealand in 2015, and since Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa and then Zimbabwe have all had their go, while India resisted up until now.
