Wriddhiman Saha excited to be part of India's first pink-ball match

Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammad Shami have confirmed their participation in the first-ever pink-ball match to be played at the Eden Gardens starting on Saturday when Mohun Bagan take on Bhowanipur Club in the final of the Super League, the Cricket Association of Bengals’s (CAB) newly formed tournament. Talking to Sport360 in an exclusive interview, Saha shared his thoughts on being part of the historic event.

The 31-year-old Bengal cricketer, who is the lone cricketer to score a century in the final of the Indian Premier League over its nine editions, is no stranger to pink-ball credit having toured Australia as part of the Emerging Players tournament, where the alternate ball has been used on many occasions. However, being part of the spectacle when it will be staged in India for the first time ever is something Saha is looking forward to and there’s one person the wicketkeeper-batsman is attributing all the credit for taking the initiative in this regard.

“Something like this has never happened before, this is India’s first tryst with pink ball cricket and I believe that Dada(former Indian skipper and current CAB President Sourav Ganguly) should be credited for it. I am sure Eden Gardens getting day-night games in the future will become simpler with Dada around,” he said.

Despite his prior experience, Saha is expecting an altogether different experience compared to the one he encountered Down Under.

“This time we will be using Kookaburra balls and the composition of that is likely to be different from the Duke balls we used during the Emerging Players tournament,” he said. “A lot is going to depend on what kind of wicket is rolled out as that will decide the wear and tear on the ball. Some people have said there are visibility concerns, but a call on that can be taken later.”

It might be a historic occasion, but Saha revealed that he is not making any special preparations for the game.

“Nothing very different from how I would approach any other encounter,” he said.“As a cricketer, it is very important to not think too much about the game before playing. What I can say is that I am just looking forward to playing this form of cricket where we will be playing in white clothing under lights.”

The four-day match starting tomorrow is seen by many as a curtain-raiser to the day-night Test expected to be played at the very same sometime in Septemeber and October between India and New Zealand. Though Saha admits that his home ground earning that stature would be a big achievement, he is not looking too much into the future, at least from a personal perspective.

“Like I have said before, I am not someone who looks too far ahead into the future. If the game is played at the Eden Gardens, it will indeed be a big occasion but whether I will play or not – I am not thinking much about it right now,” Saha said.