The Pink Ball Test Was No Test For India
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
India crushed Bangladesh in the first-ever pink-ball Test in India at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata by an innings and 46 runs in just two full days and less than half a session on the third. The match would have finished on the second day if Mushfiqur Rahim (74) and Mahmudullah (39) had not shown some grit and stitched together a small partnership that was broken when the latter retired hurt after pulling a hamstring. This just showed that Bangladesh was no match for India and it raised serious doubts on the quality to the team that the nation sent for the Tests.
India became the first team in the world to win four consecutive Tests by the margin of an innings. They also become the first team to win 12 Test series on the trot. The Indian show was dominated by the pacers and Virat Kohli, who hit his 27th Test century. He also became the fastest to reach 5000 runs in Test cricket as captain. Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami showed that they are their peak and have mastered the art of subjugating the opposition with some highly accurate pace bowling (all of them bowl at over 140 kmph consistently), with Shami adding a highly potent reverse swing when the ball gets a bit older. The Bangladeshis had no clue how to tackle the three and they captured 33 wickets out of the 39 which the visitors lost in the two Tests
The pink ball Test was an experiment to bring back the crowds for Test matches. But if matches finish so soon, fans do not get the feel of a Test match. If dull and drab draws put people off Tests, so do such one-sided matches. Before this, India had beaten a new-look South African team in a similar fashion. Of course, it is not India's fault that they faced a South African team that is rebuilding its squad after some of its senior players had retired or had been ignored by the selectors and a Bangladeshi team that was without Shakib Al Hasan, its most experienced player. Victory for the home team is always a high point for the fans but they also like to see fierce competition and inspiring cricket. Such one-sided matches are not the best of advertisements for Tests. In fact, they are no Tests at all.
