It’s been a couple of days since India defeated Bangladesh in its first-ever Day-Night Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. But the pink ball hangover is not over yet.
West Indies coach Phil Simmons, who watched the Test match on television, believes that Pink-ball Test is the way to go. The seasoned coach, who has previously worked with Afghanistan, also backs India captain Virat Kohli’s views that Test cricket needs to be marketed like the T20s and the ODIs.
“It is about three things. I think Virat hit the nail on the head, when he said that you need to promote Test cricket as hard as you promote T20. Even though, T20 has more money involved, I think we have to promote Test in the same way. If that’s done, we can see resurgence of the crowd in Test cricket. Day-night Test cricket is the future,” Simmons said on the eve of West Indies’ one-off Test against Afghanistan.
During the Kolkata Test, there were questions on whether pink-ball was quite visible during the twilight period. However, Simmons was not willing to speak on the issue as he ‘does not have any experience with pink ball’. “Until we are put in that position, it is difficult for me to comment,” he said.
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Simmons was excited to see India’s pace attack in a lethal form, despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
Talking about his playing days, when Indian bowling attack was spearheaded by Madan Lal, Simmons said he was impressed to see Indian quicks raising the bar. “I can’t say how long ago, but when I first came here, you would have Madan Lal opening the bowling. Now you have guys bowling at 90 miles per hour opening and your premier fast bowler (Bumrah) was injured for this Test, so you still have him to come back. It's exciting for world cricket,” he said.
“Teams know now that you have to play properly on both sides -- you have to have proper fast bowlers and proper spinners to beat India. Fast bowling from anybody is exciting, so it's great to see that happen. Hopefully we can get back our battery of young fast bowlers to the level where we are competing and giving people trouble,” the West Indies coach said.
After winning the ODI series against Afghanistan, West Indies lost the T20Is 2-1. But as both the teams gear up for the one-off Test, Simmons is looking forward to some exciting red-ball cricket.
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