While the pink ball Test at the Eden Gardens from November 22 to 26 be the maiden Day-Night Test for both the teams, one man who has been there and performed under lights against the pink ball is India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara.
The 2016 edition of the Duleep Trophy was played with the Kookaburra pink ball and Pujara topped the run charts (453) with two hundreds, including a 256 not out for India Blue.
“I don’t think there will be a major difference when you start playing with the pink ball. Since I haven’t played (against the SG pink ball) I am not sure, but my assumption is that even the SG pink ball will be very similar to the red ball. I feel in India the quality of SG balls have improved,” India’s Test No.3 said.
“Looking at the recent series we played against South Africa, the guys were happy with the way the ball maintained shape and even the quality of the ball. So we are expecting the same thing even with the pink ball. When it comes to pink ball, it will be little different from the red ball but I don’t see a massive difference.”
“When I played, it was 2016/17 which is a long time ago. So that can’t be considered as an advantage. But yes, that experience will be very helpful for sure, without any doubt. When you have played with pink ball, you know what to expect at what time and what might be on offer. So that experience does help,” Pujara asserted.
