Pink Ball Test: Test cricket is in pink of health, so Pink Ball Test appears to be marketing gimmick

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Test cricket is in the pink of health. Despite what pundits have written about the 'demise' of Test cricket and how it will die a natural death, response to it has been to the contrary.

Sample this week's action, three Tests will be on featuring six nations. Of course, the focus will be on the Pink Ball Test in the BGT Series at the Adelaide Oval from December 6, where the buzz is the colour of the ball.

For this generation of young cricket fans who consume cricket lavishly, be it the whiz-thud T20 stuff or the pure and pristine Test cricket, they may not have been aware that India resisted playing Pink Ball Test cricket till 2019.

The reasons for it were very simple, sighting the ball would be difficult. If you mention that today, there will be a loud guffaw. If one does a random sampling of the cricket that Indians play, even at club level, so much of it is under the arc lights, where white balls are in use.

Add to it coloured clothing, players wearing dark glasses, called 'shades' to cut out the glare from the floodlights, and usage of zinc cream on the cheeks, right below the eye, everything has been done to avoid the glare.

Indeed, sighting the ball is important for not only a batter but also the wicketkeeper, who has to be alert, possess sharp reflexes, and understand what the bowler is going to come up with. Someone like Rishabh Pant, bubbly and energetic, can adapt to any cricket and any colour of the ball and still shine.

Yet, the chatter in the lead-up to the Test at the Adelaide Oval has been on the colour of the ball - Pink. Pray, so much importance for the pigment which is not too different from the red ball, used conventionally in Test cricket and also first-class cricket.

Maintaining shine on the red ball is an art, not science. Yet, for exponents of swing bowling from the 70s, it came naturally. Someone like Ian Botham, nicknamed 'Beefy' was the master of swing. He had started as a batsman but soon was hurling the red cherry. The swing movement he got was crazy.

When he was asked many decades ago how he could generate so much swing, he laughed and said there was no science. Beefy was a master in whatever he did, bat and score big runs, take 383 Test wickets and catches with Elan.

Yet, if you looked at his body structure, he was not trim, but built on the heavier side. Nobody minded it at that time, where being trimmed was not important but delivering with the ball. Botham's swing was lethal and he made life miserable for the Aussies in famous Ashes contests.

At around the same time, another player from a distant world, New Zealand, Sir Richard Hadlee would also use the swing so devastatingly, he could terrorise batsmen with his swing and action which was a delight to watch.

Hadlee had dealt with serious injuries as well but till the end of his bowling career, he produced moments of joy with his prodigious swing and took 431 Test wickets. His record was outstanding but what was more attractive was the swing.

To date, his videos are watched with great interest, even as people in the teen category would have seen James Anderson master his art of swing to perfection. A master class each time he bowled, the 704 wickets in 188 Tests are part of Anderson folklore.

Compare that with the buzz over the Pink Ball Test, people are talking of it as if it is some rocket science. Anyone who has read about the preparation of a red ball and how it behaves will understand there is art and science involved in it.

The red ball shine has to be maintained, which is done by constant rubbing on the flannel, which, now is like pajamas worn even in Test cricket. Maintaining shine in a legit way has been always watched, what with so many cameras now prying on the bowler from the time he marks his spot from where he will start his run-up.

Red ball cricket and shine on one side are commonly talked of. Yet, the Pink Ball is not something so out of the syllabus. The treatment to get the shine/luster is given with a lacquer layer as a finishing touch. It looks more shiny with black stitches to make the ball more visible under arc lights.

Does the Pink Ball behave differently? Those who have seen its behaviour say the Pink Ball produces swing but not reverse swing. That's a bit perverse since a good bowler will produce swing in any condition. Maybe, a Botham or Hadlee must be chuckling at the Pink Ball stuff.

From an Indian perspective, if bringing in Akash Deep at the expense of Harshit Rana happens in Adelaide, that would be sad. Agreed, Test cricketers are a special breed but is there a super classification of humans on ball colour - Red or Pink - that needs to be taken with a pinch of salt?

A fast bowler in rhythm will take wickets, like Jasprit Bumrah does. Harshit Rana is a different bowler, someone who hits the deck. To suggest he cannot do it with the Pink Ball is bizarre. For that matter, if R. Ashwin plays ahead of Washington Sundar, that's still understandable. Adelaide aids spin and Ashwin will be potent.