Late swing, challenges in twilight, spinners sidelined: Assessment of Pink Ball after India's maiden D/N Test

Even before the series against Bangladesh had begun, the pink ball had taken the centre stage. There were more questions than answers, even from players who managed to get a practice session with the pink ball at the NCA before the Indore game. Meanwhile, Kolkata went abuzz with Cricket Association of Bengal making all necessary arrangements for the historic Test at the Eden Gardens, and hence stealing the thunder away from the first Test in Indore. But the mystery remained. 

Will the pink ball be visible under the lights? How will it behave in the third session? How will the dew factor affect the pink ball? How will batsmen face the pink ball? Will spin bowling be redundant the day-night format?

We even travelled for 66.7 kilometres down NH34 to Sanspareils Greenlands Pvt. Ltd. (SG) in Meerut to unravel the mystery behind pink ball and if the makers could give an insight of the behaviour of the pink ball. But the intrigue remained, and the anticipation grew as November 22 neared.

Amid all the razzmatazz on the historic opening day and over 40000 Kolkata crowd, the day-night Test began at the iconic Eden Gardens. Two days and 47 minutes later, and despite a very lopsided contest, we have a fair degree of assessment of the brand-new SG pink ball.

The new ball did less under the winter sun, but much of it can be attributed to both Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma being unable to release the ball with a straightened seam. Moreover, they were unable to hit the right areas at the start of the match on Friday. However, it was with the away-swinger off the scrambled seam that Ishant trapped Imrul Kayes in the seventh over. With one-change bowler, Mohammed Shami brought into the scene the ball showed glimpses of being a late bloomer. Remember that ball against Shadman Islam where the fullish inswinger was placed well wide of the off stump, and it swung a mile even after zipping over wickets urging Wriddhiman Saha to throw himself to his right to stop the ball. Shami was a beast with the swinging ball but it was Ishant who reaped the rewards in the second session of the day, completing his second five-wicket haul at home. However, the dismissals of Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim, in the first session itself, also gave a glimpse of the skiddy nature of the SG pink. By lunch, the swinging pink ball (1.4 degrees on an average) had its effect on the Bangladesh scoreboard as the visitors were six down, albeit it was more due to their ineptness. But it was Wriddhiman who had to bear most of the trouble and his keeping skills were lauded once again.

With the floodlights overlooking the day, questions about visibility once again rose. And Ishant had the best reply - "Light jali hui he toh ball toh dikhega (yes if the lights are on so obviously the ball is visible). However, on further elaborating the visibility talk, Ishant explained, "Till the time we were bowling, it was fine. When we bowl under the lights, dew might be a factor, but our batsman told us that the oddball was swinging."

Ishant Sharma took nine wickets in the match.

Ishant and Shami got the pink to swing by miles on day 2 with the average movement showing 1.8 for the second evening. However, the real challenge was up against the new ball. India had lost a well-set Virat Kohli when Bangladesh had taken the new ball on Saturday evening. In fact, India went from 304 for 5 to 347 for 9 after the second new ball was introduced. Bangladesh too lost a bulk of their wickets in their wickets at the start of the second innings on Saturday evening. Hence, it was a clever decision from Kohli to declare before tea to reap rewards with the new ball under the lights. However, as the final session progresses, batting becomes easier as the presence of dew kills the lateral movement of the ball.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 55 runs in India's first innings, said that first session was ideal for batting. “That’s when you play under natural light. Under lights, seeing the ball can be a bit problematic. Also, that’s the time when there isn’t much swing. Then again in the last hour because of the dew, batting becomes easier. It’s the time between these two phases when batting is tougher. That’s when the ball does a few things,” he said on Saturday.

However, Kohli's knock of 136 runs off 194 deliveries did give a blueprint to the batters of both teams on how to deal with the three sessions. 43 per cent of his runs were scored under the lights while his march towards his 27th Test century was completed in the opening session of day 2. "Under lights, it was a different experience. Firstly when I walked out it felt like an IPL game atmosphere so you feel like smashing the first ball but you have to remind yourself that you've to play compact," Kohli said on Sunday before revealing his conversation with Sachin Tendulkar, who was among the dignitaries at the venue, which will undoubtedly emerge as the biggest takeaway for batsmen of both teams.

"I spoke to Sachin on the evening of the first day and he made a very interesting point that with the pink ball, you'll have to treat the second session like your morning session when it is getting darker and the ball starts to swing and seam. So the first session you invariably play like you play from lunch to tea in a normal timing Test match and then the second session would be like a morning session and the last session is like that evening session.

"So your planning changes, your declaration timing, everything changes. As a batsman, your setup changes. Even if you're set and batting well, as soon as it gets dark and the lights are on, you can be in trouble very quickly. Luckily I went in when the lights were on so I didn't have to go through the transition but I think that'll be another challenge in the future as well," Kohli said.The spinners failed to gain any assessment of the pink ball. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowled just seven overs between themselves and went wicketless although the former did create an opportunity (in Bangladesh's second innings against Mehidy Hasan) but Ajinkya Rahane dropped the catch at slip.

However, Pujara had said, "It also has something for the spinners. With Kookaburra, it was mostly the wrist spinners who got assistance." Well, Pakistan's Yasir Shah was a success in Dubai against Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The experiment is done and both teams have gained fair amount of experience. But two days and 47 minutes of one-sided action may not give a complete perspective. A few more games and India will have a clearer idea and game plan in the day-night format.