BCCI awaits approval from top players to use pink ball in Duleep Trophy

Reports and a source close to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have stated that they are currently awaiting approval from senior players before they make the executive decision of playing the Duleep Trophy match with the Pink Ball. The report also went on to suggest that the Board is certainly in no hurry to confirm the decision and has instead confirmed that they would await confirmation from senior players in the Indian side as well as those who would be playing the Duleep Trophy as well.

For a while now, the BCCI has been keen on introducing the Pink Ball in the current scheme of things at the domestic level. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, two players who play exclusively Test match cricket for India have been named in different sides in the Duleep Trophy in spite of their national team commitments in the West Indies at the moment.

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The Board also announced that they would like these players to take part in the tournament in a bid to get accustomed to the pink ball before they are packed off on overseas tours involving the pink ball Test match. “The top players will have to give their opinion on the pink ball before a Test match under lights with it is scheduled,” a top BCCI official said.

A source close to the BCCI also went on to add that the Board would definitely not allow international fixtures with the Pink Ball without testing them at the domestic level first. Moreover, the fact that the Indians would lose out on their home advantage should the pink ball be introduced is also something that the Board officials and members would have at the back of their mind. The board would also seek opinions of the three captains of the Duleep Trophy teams -Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, and Suresh Raina – and wait for a final approval from the Indian Test captain Kohli.

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