After Team India's victory in the Perth Test, everyone is waiting for the second test match. This match will start in Adelaide from Friday 6th December. This match is also special because India and Australia are clashing in a day-night test match after 4 years. Earlier in December 2020, a day-night test match was played between the two teams in Adelaide itself. Day-night test match means that all the action will be done with the pink ball and not with the red ball. Now the pink ball is different from the traditional red ball not only in color but also in many other respects and it has some characteristics which make the pink ball challenging for the batsmen, which also sometimes makes it difficult to see.

Why pink ball for day-night test?

Day-night test matches started only about 10 years ago. After many trials, pink ball was finally selected for this test. Earlier, orange and yellow balls were also discussed but in the trials it was found that the pink ball is easier to see in the evening and at night. Obviously, it was not easy to see the red ball at all, especially for the fielders, who had to take high catches and it was not easy to take catches seeing it in the dark night sky. Therefore, another color was considered and pink ball was agreed upon. Since then many pink ball tests have been played and even after this the challenge for the batsmen has not diminished.

How different is pink ball from red ball?

Now the question is why does the pink ball prove to be more difficult for batting? Veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who has played 3 pink ball tests for Team India, explained about this. In an interview given to ESPN-Cricinfo, he told that there are many additional layers of paint on the pink ball, which is called lacquer. This means that more lacquer is applied in it compared to the red ball. This is so that the color of the ball does not fade quickly during play. This is helpful for the bowlers. Due to excess paint, whenever the ball hits its seam or the shiny part falls on the pitch, the ball slips more. In such a situation, the batsmen have less reaction time as compared to the red ball. Now if the paint does not come off quickly then this challenge persists for a longer time.

Difficult to see despite brightness

The challenge does not end here. Despite all the paint coating and shine, it becomes difficult to see this ball. Pujara explained that a match that starts during the day continues till night but there comes a time in the evening when it is difficult to see the ball. In English it is called Twilight and in Hindi it is called Gaudhuli. In simple words, it is the time when sunset is almost over but mild light remains and at the same time the darkness of night also keeps spreading slowly. At this time the light has reduced and the lights of the stadium are also not fully lit. In such a situation, it is not at all easy to see the ball at this time. Therefore, this is considered the most difficult time in the pink ball test. At this time the ball swings more and hence more wickets fall.