Pink ball trouble for BCCI

Uncertainty over D/N Duleep Trophy due to pink ball quality

 

 

New Delhi: The proposed first-ever Day/Night version of the Duleep Trophy with first-ever use of pink balls is still in a limbo due to lack of quality pink Kookaburra balls that could be used for the four and five-day format games.

A senior BCCI functionary was asked about the Duleep Trophy schedule and he seemed non-committal about the use of pink Kookaburra balls.

"We would shortly announce the schedule for Duleep Trophy but as of now there is no certainty whether we would be having a Day/Night affair with pink balls. The quality of pink balls has been an issue," the senior BCCI official said at an informal gathering on Sunday.

"We had asked the Dukes to supply pink balls and we have not still received any samples. As far as the Kookaburra ball is concerned, it may not last on typical Indian pitches," he added.

There is a possibility that this edition of Duleep Trophy may be played with red SG Test balls in conventional format as most of the top Indian players won't available at the start of the tournament which is set to be scheduled at the end of this month.

The top Indian players will not be available before the start of next month and would require some rest before the gruelling home international season starts with the New Zealand series.

The BCCI official also said that there has been no concrete discussions about having a mini-IPL in the United States where India will be playing a couple of T20 Internationals against the West Indies on August 27 and 28.