Involved in an unbroken 120-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara, India Blue’s wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik is having another good outing in the Duleep Trophy. After scoring 57 in the last match, the middle-order bat was not out on 55 at stumps on day of the final against India Red.
Playing in his third match under lights with the pink ball, Karthik shared insights about the conditions. “In terms of sighting it is the same. In terms of the behaviour of the ball, as you keep playing matches, from the first match to this match, I guess I can understand the behaviour of the ball a lot better. Obviously I have spent a decent amount of time at the crease and it has helped.”
Agreeing that while facing the wrist spinner it is not easy to pick the seam especially, initially, he added, “I think it is a big challenge to play wrist spin. I faced it in this innings as well, it is a little hard to pick, but as you keep batting it became that much more obviously easier to pick it from the wrist.”
However, the India Blue batsmen had taken the attack to Kuldeep Yadav and Amit Mishra. Asked about the plan he said, “The first day wicket is always good for batting. Even though I think it is going to start aiding spin as the match goes on, I would also give a lot of credit to batters. The tempo was set right at the front being very aggressive towards spin and any bad balls put away to boundary. That put the spinners under a lot of pressure.”
Talking about the treatment meted out to Kuldeep who had bowled some balls short, he said, “At this level if you bowl short you are bound to get hit, but having said that he is the kind of bowler who might give you a short ball, but you have to be alert because he does bowl that magic ball which can get you out.”
Discussing the ball and the conditions (less grass on pitch) on Day 1, he added, “There was a bit of scruff. When I went in, I faced Mishra first and in the next over I faced Nathu (Singh) and I didn’t pick a couple of balls. I couldn’t see, specially a full toss that took the edge of the bat and went for a boundary and I went and asked the umpire and he had a look and realised that the ball was scuffed up. It was really hard to pick. Pujara said the same thing, he couldn’t pick a few balls and I heard that Rohit also felt it was a little difficult to sight. So as the ball gets older, sometimes the shine on the ball goes away then the lacquer goes off and beneath the ball it is pretty much the same surface as the red ball, so it is a little hard to spot.”
Discussing his perspective as a wicketkeeper, he said, “While ‘keeping what I did feel, is that it is a little different ‘keeping under lights. During the day, the ball feels a little lighter when it hits the glove and it doesn’t actually sting as much, but in the evening, I did realise that even though there has not been much dew, I think the ball for some strange reason gets that much harder. That is why you can see there has been a template where short balls have got wickets towards last session because I think the ball skids on a little more.”
Karthik was happy to see a huge crowd for the final. “The matches leading up to the game had a good audience, and on the first day of the final, it was a packed house on an entire embankment area.” Karthik too felt that this was one of the best crowds that he has played in front of and credited it to playing under lights with the pink ball.
Asked about the possibility of playing Ranji Trophy matches, he said, “Interesting! With the pink ball it will be interesting on what kind of wickets we play. There is no doubt if you compare a SG red ball to a Kookaburra pink ball it is a little harder to play with in Indian conditions at the moment. Having said that, only if you keep playing with the pink ball you will figure out what needs to be improved.
“That’s probably one of the reasons why they want us to play with the pink ball. I think the way cricket is heading, at least in Test cricket to pull the crowds. Even today if the crowds are a yard stick to go by in day-night matches, we should give that box a tick. I must credit BCCI for the fact that they have brought these day-night days’ matches on board. It got the crowd going and it is obviously good to play in front of a crowd. This was one of the better crowds that I have played domestic cricket in front of,” he mentioned.
Analysing the pink ball, he added, “It will be interesting to see if an Indian ball maker is able to make a ball for Indian conditions. All over the world, the Test is played with three balls – Kookaburra, Dukes and SG. And for a long time, India has been playing with the SG ball. If they can come up with a pink ball which is more suited to Indian conditions, which I am sure they will start trying in time and it will be interesting to see how that ball compares to the pink Kookaburra. A red SG ball has more to offer in Indian conditions than a red Kookaburra same could be the case. And if you start playing with an Indian ball maker in a Ranji Trophy game, then there is a lot more value to it,” he explained.
“Playing day-night Ranji Trophy will be interesting. It is a great experience. It can be big challenge for a lot of the teams and players because the sleep pattern changes. Right now we are probably sleeping at midnight and waking up at 10 -10:30. For that one game, we can do that but when you go to the next venue you go to the normal game you wake up at 6-6:30 am get ready so these are the challenges you need to get accustomed to. The good thing is in a very backdoor sort of a way, you start getting ready for when you play internationals where you are playing Tests, one-dayers and T20s. You have to get used to everything as a player and professional. I think BCCI is pushing all the players with this kind of things. It is good for players.”
Elaborating further he said, “I think they are doing it to receive feedback from the teams. Yes, a few bowlers might find it hard, but even as a batter there is a challenge; your game changes because when you are playing in the afternoon, it is different when you comeback in the evening it is a little different. If the ball can aid a little more spin and a little more reverse swing with the lacquer still being there, and the pink colour still maintained, I think it is a great way to bring crowds in,” Karthik concluded.
