Why pink ball for day-night Test: How is pink ball made and how is it different from red ball?

Why pink ball for day-night Test: Some key differences between the pink and the red ball ahead of the historic Test in Kolkata.

The second Test of the ongoing Bangladesh’s tour of India will commence from November 22 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The match will be the first played by the pink ball under lights by both the teams.

With this series being part of the ongoing ICC Test Championship, it will be the first instance of a pink-ball match in the tournament. The match also being the first one to be played in India has seen a steep rise in the buzz with respect to the importance of the historic match.

Why pink ball for day-night Test?

Much like the red ball, pink ball is also made by hand from starting to end. With the process of making the two balls remaining the same, it is worth knowing why the pink ball is favoured during day-night Tests. It is worth mentioning that the match will be played by an SG ball, a first time for them with the pink ball.

In a video posted on ESPNcricinfo where Star Sports visited SG’s factory in Meerut, SG Marketing director Paras Anand explained why the pink ball is better-suited for Test matches being played under light. Laying emphasis on “visibility” under lights, Anand talked about putting more layers of colour than the red ball.

“We worked on different shades of pink and then selected this one. We tested it under lights expecting the colour to be bright [and visible]. It’s a very shiny pink. The grounds on which we’ve tested the ball don’t have a lightening system as good as the grounds which will host the pink-ball match,” Anand said.

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If the ball has passed the test under stadiums with less-equipped lightening system, expect it to be visible throughout at the Eden Gardens on Friday.

How is a pink ball made and how is it different from a red ball?

Furthermore, Anand was also vocal about how a pink ball is made and differentiated it from a red ball. According to him, the biggest challenge was that the pink ball should behave in the same way as the red ball.

“The day we got the intimation from BCCI that it will be the SG ball, there’s been a lot of excitement and work being going on into the cricket ball which will be used on 22nd [November]. The biggest challenge was that the [pink] ball should behave like the red ball.

“The first process for the pink ball is the pigmenting of the leather. You just dye the leather to prepare a red ball. On the other hand, it takes 10 days to bring a pink ball to the production floor. Once the leather is ready, then it’s the same process [like red ball]. Preparation of leather [dyed and pink colour] is the major difference,” Anand added.

As far as the seam is concerned, the pink ball will have a seam made of black colour as compared to a while-colour seam in a red ball. The seam of the pink ball will be more pronounced which is likely to aid the finger spinners.

Talking about the pacers, the pronounced seam will help the fast bowlers to move the ball even if they fail to prepare the ball for reverse swing.