Pink Ball Test: Seasoned curator Daljit advises more grass on pitch

Former BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh on Wednesday proposed more grass on 22 yard-strip and lesser than usual on outfield to counter "unavoidable" dew factor for first-ever day-night Test to be played in India next month.  BCCI and its Banglesh counterpart on Tuesday agreed to play a historic Test at Eden Gardens from vember 22, leaving little time for preparation. What goes in favor of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is that it has some experience of hosting a multi-day game with a pink ball.   

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'Dew will be one of main worries'

"One of main worries will be dew. re is doubt about that. y will have to understand that it will be a handicap which you can't eliminate," Daljit, who retired as BCCI chief curator last month after 22 years of service to Indian cricket, told PTI.  

"To counter that, you have to have thin grass cover on outfield and taller than usual grass on pitch. heavier outfield, more, it will attract dew. y need to start doing that from today itself," said 77-year-old former first-class player, who remains involved with pitch preparation for Punjab Cricket Association. game is expected to start around 1.30 pm local time with play lasting till 8.30 pm. To ensure that pink-ball lasts long, Daljit feels more grass is needed on pitch. He and his team did something similar in Duleep Trophy experiment of 2016 when games were played under lights with a pink ball in Greater ida. 

" pink ball gets dirty very quickly so y have to keep more grass on pitch. If you remember, when first day-night Test was played at elaide (in 2017), y left 11 mm grass on pitch, that too you will have culture (nurture) it. You can't just shave it off just days before game or else pitch will play slow." dew was an issue (when Duleep Trophy was played), ball got really dirty. match was played with 7mm grass on pitch, rmally grass is 2.5 to 4 mm long. And taller grass means ball will seam a lot," said Daljit, expecting a good reward for pacers.

Ar experienced curator, requesting anymity, vised against watering outfield two-three days before game. "Dew factor will be re but it won't be so cold at that point in time. Anti-dew chemicals will have to be used besides super-soppers, grass on outfield will have to be cut a lot, irrigation has to be stopped two days before game because it attracts moisture. "rmally we keep grass on outfield between 7-8 mm, for day-night Test it could be cut to 6mm. This way you can minimise dew factor but one can't fully negate a natural phemen," said curator.

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Eden Gardens wicket

Eden has one of best outfields in India and its soil quality will ensure that diving fielders won't be hurt despite reduction in outfield grass cover. "re is hard soil re, it is a beautiful soil y have re. y have a pretty experienced set of people re and I am sure y will do a good job," ded Daljit. However, CAB curator Sujan Mukherjee is of opinion that dew will t have much of an impact on game."A lot of precautionary measures will be taken to negate dew factor. Moreover, dew falls only after 8-8.30 pm and continues till about midnight. But as match would be an early start, match would be over by 8-8.30 pm. So dew won't be a problem at all."Our experiment with day/night match (CAB Super League final in 2016) was very successful and re was complaint about ball getting soft," said Mukherjee.

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