Legendary Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar is loving the buzz around India’s first-ever day-night Test but at the same time would like the stakeholders to ensure to maintain the quality of cricket. India is the last among top Test-playing nations to join the “pink ball bandwagon” as they take on Bangladesh in Kolkata from Friday but the cricket icon would like to wait and watch how things pan out.
During a recent interview with PTI, Tendulkar said, “The whole thing is to bring in more people in the stadium adds a new element to Test cricket. That is important but at the same time, I feel we should also evaluate after the game, how much dew was there and whether cricket — the standard of play — was compromised there.”
Tendulkar, who had earlier voiced his concern about tackling the dew factor, said the Indian cricket team management need to bifurcate this after the match gets over.
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Sachin explained, “I think there are two sides to it. One is to bring more spectators, but also at the same time, not compromising the standard of play. If the ball starts getting wet and if the game starts getting affected, then I think we need to sit back and decide what we want to do. If both these things come together then I think it’s a win-win story.”
Tendulkar is headlining a list of dignitaries who will be present for India’s first-ever pink ball experiment, four years after Australia set the ball rolling against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval. When asked if the spinners will have to be effective with the pink ball on a grassy pitch, the cricket icon straightway pointed out the Perth Test last year where Nathan Lyon returned with a match-winning eight-wicket haul to seal Australia’s 146-run win.
Sachin said, “Generally, people feel spinners cannot do much on hard and grassy surfaces. But if you see, last year when India went to Australia, on the Perth pitch (new Stadium), which was helping pacers, Nathan Lyon did well.”
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As the discussion veered towards India’s pace battery, Tendulkar attributed it to their peak fitness.
Praising the pacers, Tendulkar said, “We’ve got all three bowlers who are bowling 140kph. It’s not so often that we get to see all quicks bowling in 140kph and also bowling well. And the areas that they are hitting consistently is very good. They have done a very good job. I think it’s lot to do with fitness. If you are fit, then you are able to bowl longer spells. I think what is happening is that most of the teams are not batting that long.”
