India cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has backed the International Cricket Council’s decision to trail the use of pink-ball in Tests in case of anticipated bad light. The ICC took the decision during the meeting with top officials last month, with the global body suggesting that it should be done so with both teams giving consent to the approach. Amid grim chances of India making it to the World Test Championship (WTC 2025/27) final, Gambhir has backed the move and said it would aid the teams at a time when nature could play spoilsport, and not allow a result.
Gambhir okay with ICC’s pink-ball decision
Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of the one off Test between India and Afghanistan, Gambhir said that he loves the idea as he believes that teams always deserved the opportunity to get a result from the game if there was a chance. The decision to introduce this idea was taken at the ICC meeting in Ahmedabad, which proposed a change of the ball from pink to red mid-match, provided both teams agree in the case of anticipated bad light. Gambhir welcomed the move, noting that a team should not be denied the chance to make it to the WTC final because of bad light prohibiting the result of a game, especially if it was in the last Test before the marquee clash.
“I love that because I’ve always believed that if there’s an opportunity to get a result, you should always have that opportunity. Imagine if you are playing the last Test match before the World Test Championship final and you have the chance to win that Test match to qualify, and because of bad light, it’s not happening. So I’m all for it, Gambhir said.
At the ICC Chief Executives Committee (CEC) meeting that was held virtually on May 21, Roger Twose’s working group proposed the idea of switching from a red ball to a pink ball during a Test match. Sourav Ganguly, the head of the ICC Cricket Committee, and Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Asian Cricket Council, were in attendance.
Talking about India’s chances of making it to the final, Shubman Gill and co. are currently placed 6th on the standings, having won and lost 4 games each from the nine matches that they have played in this cycle. As per a X user, India have 2% chances of making it to the final. It is pertinent to point out that the one-off Test between IND and AFG isn’t a part of the WTC 2025/27 cycle. Therefore, the result of the contest won’t matter.
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