With Adelaide Test today, all about the pink ball: who plays it best, what India need to watch out for

But how the ball behaves, its eccentricities and quirks, how it feels in the hands of bowlers, and how different it is from the red and white balls continue to pique the curiosity of cricketers, cricket-watchers, and pundits.

Hence, there is buzz about India’s pink-ball day-night Test against Australia beginning in Adelaide on Friday.

Does the pink ball favour seamers?

In fact, a spinner boasts the best bowling figures in day-night Tests. West Indian leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo claimed 8/49 in a futile effort against Pakistan in Dubai in 2016.

India’s left-arm spinner Axar Patel skinned England with match figures of 11/70 in the day-night Test in Ahmedabad in 2021. Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has picked up 43 sticks at an average of 25 in 12 Tests. South African left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and Yasir Shah, leg-break googly bowler from Pakistan, have both picked five-fors with pink balls.

And yet, seamers offer a more devastating threat, especially in Australia. In 12 day-night Tests in Australia, fast bowlers have snared 322 scalps, whereas spinners have picked up only 69 – overseas spinners have managed just 26.

So why does the pink ball favour seamers?

The extra lacquer on the pink ball to enhance its visibility under lights means the ball hoops around approximately 20% more than with the red Kookaburra. The initial movement might not last as long as with the red one, but is more pronounced. Also, the ball starts moving around (conventionally) later in the game.

The pink ball is coated with polyurethane – it cannot be dyed like the red one – so the top layer doesn’t peel off as rapidly. A firm and pronounced seam contributes to the movement.

How do the conditions affect the pink ball?

The pink ball swings differently at different stages of the match. There is prodigious swing in the first hour, less deviation in the next two, and there is swing again in the two hours after that.

In day Tests, batting against seamers becomes easier as the day progresses. But in day-night games, batting becomes difficult at twilight, when the temperature falls, dew and moisture set in, and the ball starts moving around.

It is for this reason that the last hour of the second session and the first of the final session are tough for batters in day-night Tests. It is worse if they have to face the new ball during this time.

Also, the mix of natural and artificial light — when the sun hasn’t fully set and the floodlights are partially switched on — makes it difficult for batters to judge the movement.

What is special about pink-ball games in Australia?

Hard and bouncy pitches usually favour good-length bowling at pace. But the early swing amplifies the threat of the fuller length. That is what makes Mitchell Starc, Australia’s most natural full-length operator, lethal with the pink ball – he averages 18.71. This is also the reason why Australia have drafted full-length merchants such as Jhye Richardson in the past, rather than the staple hit-the-deck ones.

Steep bounce has always probed the technique of overseas batters in Australia. Under lights with the pink ball, they have to negotiate movement in the air too.

Also, the twilight period in Australia is longer than in other cricketing countries.

So are spinners completely off the equation in Australia?

Not quite – a good spinner should be effective irrespective of the conditions. They would ideally enjoy the firmer grip and the pronounced seam.

Lyon has relished bowling with the pink ball, and so did Ravichandran Ashwin in the first innings of the 2020 Test, when he picked up four wickets. It’s more a case of teams not possessing quality spinners – and of packing the side with seamers.

What specifically are the challenges for the batters, then?

a) It swings and seams massively at the start, before it eases out. b) It starts to move around (in conventional fashion) later in the day too, when the batters become slightly relaxed. c) The light conditions change throughout the day. A batsman starts batting in the afternoon, has to wade through the twilight phase, and then bat at night.

Some batters have complained that they can’t spot the black seam thread (it is white in the red ball) under the lights – it gets lost in the fluorescent pink shade.

Sometimes, the ball suddenly starts to skid along the surface, giving the impression of a dual-bounced pitch. “In pink ball, you need a little more reaction time,” the India top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara told Star Sports. “You have to speed up your footwork. The ball skids and comes quickly. So, there is a little less time than red ball.”

Is it especially difficult for overseas batters?

In 12 pink-ball Tests in Australia, only three overseas batters have scored hundreds. Two of them were South Africans, who are arguably more comfortable in these conditions. The other was Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq.

On the other hand, four of Australia’s current top six batters have healthy records. Marnus Labsuchagne helms with 894 runs at an average of 63.85, including four centuries. Travis Head aggregates 49.36, Steve Smith 40, and Usman Khawaja 39.69.

At the Adelaide Oval, only one visiting team has managed a 300-plus score (Pakistan’s 302). Touring squads have averaged only 203 runs per innings. And India don’t need reminding that it was here that they were visited by their darkest batting hour in Tests — 36 all out in December 2020.