India and Bangladesh will walk into an unchartered territory when they face off at the Eden Gardens on Friday afternoon for the Pink-ball Test. With both the sides featuring in a day-night Test for the first time, there are apprehensions on how things will pan out over the next five days.
But former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson -- who was in-charge of the Black Caps when they played the first-ever Pink-ball Test, against Australia at Adelaide in 2015 -- believes that both the captains -- Virat Kohli and Mominul Haque -- need to make quick decisions based on instincts in a bid to get used to the Pink-ball Test format.
Speaking to Sportstar from Mount Maunganui on Thursday, Hesson listed out the five points that both India and Bangladesh should keep in mind at the Eden Gardens.
Assessing the conditions
In Adelaide, it was mainly clear and still — so the first and the last sessions would offer enough swing to the fast bowler, the middle session was the best for batting except you needed to have set batsman in during the twilight period. So, in that case, taking a new ball in the last session of day would be very helpful as it would maximise the swing on offer. But in Kolkata, with dew being a factor it could be completely different. Actually, taking a new ball in the last session with the chance of ruining the shine on the ball so quickly could also flow onto losing the effectiveness of a new ball in the first session of the following day. So, the captains need to have a strategy accordingly.
Use of the new ball
Once the pink ball loses it's initial shine, its very hard to buff up and get any conventional swing a little later like you can with the red ball. The pink ball we used, also got soft very quickly so therefore the bounce will be lower, and the batsmen need to be able to adapt to that.
The Twilight factor
Getting used to the conditions and facing the pink-ball during daylight, twilight and under lights during trainings will be a crucial part of preparations.
Can the spinners impress?
As the seam gets older, we found it very hard to see against both seamers and spinners. The seam is now much darker, so it might not be as much of a factor but I would like to see the spinners bowl with scrambled seam as it could be very hard to pick and adjust.
How the captains should approach the game...
Planning is very important and it is important for the captains to have a clear but also a flexible strategy. It is clearly going to be a new experience for both the teams and the captain who has the ability to adapt quickly to change will have a clear advantage. Whether it be changing light, maximising swing on offer for a small period of time or the decision around whether to take the new ball with dew around. Planning for these and then making quick decisions based on instinct will be of huge importance in this Day/Night Test Match.
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