Sunil Gavaskar proposes getting rid of 'nothing doing white ball' for ODIs
Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels that the pink ball should be used in ODI cricket to make it more competitive. He thinks that the white ball, that is used for ODIs now, leaves nothing for the bowlers in a game.
“The white ball does nothing for bowlers. I actually call it a ‘nothing doing ball’. What could be interesting is that with the success of pink ball, it may be used in limited over cricket to even the balance between bat and ball,” Gavaskar said.
The pink ball was used in a recent day-night test match series between Australia and New Zealand. Australia won the first ever day-night test match, creating history. Recently, it was also used in Pakistan. In that case however the players faced difficulties adjusting to it.
Gavsakar’s view that cricket was becoming a batsman dominated game got more evidence in its favour during India’s first ODI against Australia in the ongoing series. India scored 309 runs during their 50 over innings. Australia had, however, overhauled the ‘easy’ target during their chase. The former Indian opener said that a target above 300 is not safe anymore in 50 over cricket matches. He expressed his sympathy for the bowlers who have nothing in the game. With the success of the pink ball in the Australia versus New Zealand test series, Gavaskar said that the pink ball could be used in ODI cricket as well.
However, the 66 year old feels the need for more experiments with the pink ball and said, "It needs to be experimented at domestic level. Maybe the IPL can have a few matches where they can experiment with the pink ball in the initial stages and see how it goes.”
Indian opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who scored an unbeaten 171 in the first ODI against Australia and another power packed 124 today in the ongoing Victoria Bitter series, however, has a different view to the pink ball.
"I don't agree that the white ball doesn't do anything. If you play in tough conditions, it can be a nightmare for the batsmen,” Sharma said.
The 28 year old pointed to the introduction of two new balls during each innings in 50 over cricket, one at each end, which gives quite a lot of assistance to the bowlers.
“When you play with two new balls and conditions are against batsmen and it is overcast, the ball tends to swing a bit," he said.