Pink Revolution: Yuvi, Raina face off in D/N Duleep Trophy

Greater Noida, Aug 22 (PTI) Indian cricket will be takingits first steps into an unknown territory as Yuvraj Singh’s’Red’ team take on Suresh Raina’s ‘Green’ brigade in the firstever match to be played with pink ball under floodlights andcoloured clothing. While there is a novelty factor with regards to anofficial first class match being played with pink ball, thelack of top stars will certainly rob some sheen from theDuleep Trophy beginning tomorrow. The likes of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, AjinkyaRahane will be busy in the United States playing T20Internationals while the second batch comprising Karun Nair,Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson is busy playing A series inAustralia. It is effectively the third string that will be playingthe tournament with old guards like Yuvraj, Gautam Gambhir(Blue team) and Raina providing the BCCI with their inputs onconditions and other variables associated with an experimentof this magnitude. Technically, this is not the first ever Day/Nightfirst-class match in India as the 1995 Ranji final betweenDelhi and Mumbai (Bombay back then) was played in Gwalior butwith white ball. With ICC keen on promoting Day/Night Tests in order tobring back the dwindling crowd in the longer format, the BCCIis keen on testing waters even though there are remote chancesof a much anticipated ‘Pink Ball’ Test match being playedduring the upcoming home season. It will be a test for BCCI chief of ground staffDaljeet Singh and his team to get the Shahid Vijay SinghPathik Sports Complex ready for ‘Pink Ball’ match. With pink Kookaburra showing signs of wear and tearafter 40 overs, a layer of grass is expected on the 22 yardstrip so that the ball lasts 80 overs and doesn’t change itscolour. It will be interesting to watch how likes of Yuvraj,Raina, Gambhir cope with swing under lights which is the boneof contention for many. The Kookaburra ball has a record ofswinging more during the twilight session. For the record, Josh Hazlewood and Trent Boult swungit appreciably in Adelaide during the first ever Day-NightTest that took place between Australia and New Zealand. Rookie pacers from both sides Nathu Singh, AnureetSingh, Ashok Dinda will be testing the batsmen. The other interesting aspect will be how spinners likeKuldeep Yadav, Parvez Rasool bowl with the pink Kookaburra asa grassy layer may be an impediment towards extracting decentturn. With India’s Test squad bearing a settled look, thereis a little chance that anyone from this lot will make animmediate headway but their first hand experience may go along way to chart the course of future in the longer format.PTI KHS BSBS