Ashwin excited but wary too about pink ball

The buzz surrounding next week’s historic pink-ball Test in Kolkata refuses to die down despite a game happening here at the Holkar Stadium here. Ace off-spinner R Ashwin was asked about his thoughts on the ground-breaking game at the Eden Gardens and the Tamil Nadu player hailed the decision but said the team is wary about challenges that lies ahead.

“The pink-ball Test match is a great welcoming sign. India as a Test playing country, it was necessary for us to play Day-Night Test. The office-going crowd which couldn’t catch Test cricket can now do so. Obviously, it’s a challenge to play with the pink ball. The ball has a lot more lacquer. Personally I think it’s the right direction we have taken, hopefully the Test match will be a historic moment and it will be the start of many more to come,” said Ashwin at Thursday’s press conference.

Ashwin, however, took a subtle dig at the untested SG pink ball, even questioning its actual colour. The Kookaburra pink balls were used in the three editions of the Duleep Trophy (2016-19) which was played under lights. The SG pink ball will used in an international game for the first time next week in Kolkata.

“For starters you can’t sleep at 9 O’ clock anymore in the night, apparently the game is starting at 1 pm,” said Ashwin. “I’ve never played a pink ball game. I didn’t play the Duleep Trophy that happened a few years ago. I haven’t even bowled a single ball with the pink ball. Obviously I just saw it. Sometimes I don’t understand if it's orange or pink, still coming to terms with that. I think having played in Calcutta before, sorry Kolkata before, it does a lot more in the evening because I don’t know whatever the reason and the pitch is relaid. It does go around a little bit with the white ball. You can imagine what could happen with the pink or orange ball. We are all little wary but excited about the game.”

Ashwin also weighed his thoughts on Kohli’s suggestion that Test cricket in India be restricted to five traditional centres. “Look India is a very big country compared to other countries where we play cricket, obviously Australia is also big — I’m not talking about square kilometres. Every other Test playing nation generally has a certain pattern of playing Test cricket. They do know how the venue behaves, how the pitch behaves, how the games pan out. That’s perennially how Test cricket works in most parts of the world.

“Even in India it was no exception. But of late with a lot of cricketers coming from different parts of the country, cricket has grown and gone to every nook and corner which is a great sign. Hence we having to play Test matches in various venues. The understanding of a particular venue and keeping it that way will help the players. Whether or not that’s the right thing to do is something decision makers will have take.”