Published: Aug 23, 2016, 12:54 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 30, 2016, 07:05 PM (IST)
Namaste! Welcome to CricketCountry’s live match coverage of the much-awaited Duleep Trophy 2016-17 first fixture between the Yuvraj Singh-led India Red and the Suresh Raina-led India Green. Yes, Pink ball cricket is finally here! The Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Complex in Greater Noida is all set to host the first Pink ball tournament in India, under lights. With questions around its durability, visibility, shape and relevance having already created the hype and mystery, this is when all of that would be answered. This is the tournament which BCCI had awaited. Now, will this concept bring in more numbers for Test cricket? Will it be a success? If not all, at least some big questions will be answered after this Duleep Trophy season ends. Till then, enjoy as we bring you live updates, Day and Night! READ: Duleep Trophy 2016-17: Greater Noida’s shot at history as pink ball cricket arrives
The first Pink ball Test was played between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide in 2015. The concept since then has kick-started a series of speculations regarding the Pink ball. Another four-Day game was organised by the CAB and was played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where Mohammed Shami, one of India’s top seamers wreaked havoc on the batsmen with the in focus Pink ball. READ: Duleep Trophy 2016 schedule, squads, venue
While the Indian players Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina are excited to play cricket with the pink ball, it will be interesting to see how they get acquainted with it. How much does it swing, how well does it assist the spinners, all questions will be answered to some extent as and when the first fixture ends.
Squads
India Green: Suresh Raina(c), Robin Uthappa, Jalaj Saxena, Ambati Rayudu, Parthiv Patel(w), Ian Dev Singh, Rohan Prem, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Ashok Dinda, Sandeep Sharma, Ankit Rajpoot, Rajat Paliwal, Murali Vijay
India Red: Yuvraj Singh(c), Anureet Singh, Arun Karthik, Murugan Ashwin, Ankush Bains, Srikar Bharat(w), Sudip Chatterjee, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Ishwar Pandey, Nitish Rana, Nathu Singh, Akshay Wakhare
