Pink balls to be used in the Ranji Trophy

Following suggestions from National selectors, BCCI President Anurag Thakur said that Pink balls would be used in the upcoming Ranji Trophy as well as the Duleep Trophy.The National selectors Vikram Rathore and Saba Karim confirmed the initiative on Saturday.

“From the selectors’ side, we are very happy with the outcome. We have told BCCI to have at least one Ranji game per round with pink ball under lights so that players get used to it,” said Rathore to The Indian Express. Explaining his feelings towards the new development Rathore said, “We need to check how it performs on bald surfaces devoid of grass. Yes, reverse swing is an issue right now as the ball is not moving the other way. But these things can be worked out if BCCI sits with ball manufacturers. They must also be thinking about improvisation. There is more lacquer on the pink ball but we need to check how it performs when it gets scuffed up.”

“These are exciting times for cricket in the longer format. The pink-ball initiative is in the right direction,” Karim further added. The upcoming Ranji Trophy will see the likes of several Indian first choice test players participating such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan and Amit Mishra.

According to ESPNCRICINFO, The BCCI President said: “We will experiment in the next few rounds of the domestic matches as well.” "We are not in a hurry to implement the pink ball. If the experiment is successful, then yes, we can look into it" – Thakur later added.

However, according to senior national selection committee member Vikram Rathore the indications from the players has been all positive. “They feel that visibility is not an issue. Most of the batsmen felt that they are not having problems in sighting the ball under lights,” Rathore stated. However, Gautam Gambhir, the India Blue captain feels that the traditional test Cricket format should not be tampered with.

Rathore also feels that the crowd gatherings and the popularity of the domestic tournament should not be neglected. Talking to The Indian Express, Rathore admitted he had never seen packed stands in a domestic tournament - “I don’t remember having seen such a packed crowd in a domestic game.”

Explaining the effects of the dew with the Pink ball, Rathore said the players should not have any problems with it as they are experienced about it from the day-night ODI matches.

The 83rd Ranji Trophy is set to start from October 6.