Rahul Dravid backs pink ball, wants to see day-night Tests in India

Even as CAB President Sourav Ganguly took the initiative to introduce pink balls into the country, another Indian skipper has thrown his weight behind cricket’s latest innovation. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Rahul Dravid exuded confidence about the future of day-night Tests.

Hoping that the initial reluctance will soon fade away, he felt, “I think it's natural to be wary when you first start, it's stepping into the unknown a little bit. But as more and more matches are played, like we saw with the success of the Test in Adelaide, I think players will warm to the idea.”

The right-hander added, “There are going to be things that are slightly different. But, there are things that are different in every Test match in each and every country that you play in that are unique to that country and surface as well. So, I don't think that's something that should count as a negative.”

Citing the sport’s evolution as one of the reasons to embrace the pink-ball, Dravid reasoned, “We have evolved and changed. You could say that even changing from uncovered wickets to covered wickets was manufacturing cricket in some ways and is that really Test cricket? “

With Australia set to play another day-night Test in Adelaide against South Africa, West Indies have also responded positively to Pakistan’s proposal at the UAE. The legendary batsman believed that India is ready to jump into the bandwagon as well.

Dravid affirmed, “I would love to see a day-night Test match in India because very clearly there are grounds in this country where people don't come and watch. I think each country and each situation could be unique.”

‘The Wall’ may not need to wait for long with BCCI eager to schedule a day-night Test against New Zealand later this year. Rahul was happy with their effort to ascertain whether the pink-ball would be feasible in sub-continental conditions.

However, he warned, “One of the things we can't afford is we do the experiment without the right conditions and the players switch off from it. I think if it goes wrong initially, you will find the players could switch off from it. We need to give it the best chance to succeed."