Gavaskar calls for use of pink balls in ODIs

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes the pink ball should be used in One-Day Internationals to make it more competitive since white ball leaves nothing for the bowlers. High-scoring matches have become the norm and even a score in excess of 300 is not considered safe these days. In the Perth ODI, India scored 309 for three but hosts Australia easily overhauled the target.

Published : Jan 14, 2016 23:29 IST , Brisbane

Sunil Gavaskar: " I actually call [the white ball] a 'nothing doing ball'."
Sunil Gavaskar: " I actually call [the white ball] a 'nothing doing ball'."
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Sunil Gavaskar: " I actually call [the white ball] a 'nothing doing ball'."

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes the pink ball should be used in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) to make it more competitive since white ball leaves nothing for the bowlers. High-scoring matches have become the norm and even a score in excess of 300 is not considered safe these days. In the Perth ODI, India scored 309 for three but hosts Australia easily overhauled the target.

“The white ball does nothing for bowlers. I actually call it a 'nothing doing ball',” Gavaskar said.

The former India opener said the initial experiment with pink ball in day=night Test match can be taken extended to the 50-over format too.“What could be interesting is that with the success of pink ball it may used in limited over cricket to even the balance between bat and ball,” he said.

Australia had won the first ever day-night Test match, played with pink ball, against New Zealand. Indian opener Rohit Sharma, though, differed in his view on the issue. Rohit, who scored an unbeaten 171 against Australia in Perth, said it can be difficult to play with white ball in certain conditions.

“I don’t agree that the white ball doesn’t do anything. If you play in tough conditions it can be a nightmare for the batsmen. When you play with two new balls and conditions are against batsmen and it is overcast the ball tends to swing a bit,” he said.

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