To continue with the same ball to try to get some reverse swing or opt for a drier ball to ensure spinners can grip the ball better? Punjab Kings (PBKS) will weigh up the options before making a decision, their assistant coach James Hopes said ahead of their IPL 2025 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Before the start of the season, the IPL decided to revoke the ban on the use of saliva on the ball and allowed one ball change on demand by the fielding team after the tenth over of the second innings in evening games.
"Arshdeep [Singh] enjoyed it [against Gujarat Titans (GT)]," Hopes said. "He was worked on the ball properly with saliva, and we did get a little bit of swing in that last game at the end. But, to be fair, that came at the expense of getting a dry ball as well because we didn't change our ball, and that probably affected Yuzi [Yuzvendra Chahal] a little bit as well because he wasn't bowling with the dry ball for that game.
"So we have to weigh up what we're going to need the most: whether we're going to need to try and get a little bit of tail with the older ball or whether we're going to need to give our world-class spinner a dry ball to make an impact within the last ten overs of the innings."
Tuesday's match will be played on a red-soil pitch, which has plenty of grass covering. Hopes said he expected a "spin-heavy night out" at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
"I think it's fine to have a home-ground advantage," he said. "If that home-ground advantage is [that] you have a spin-heavy attack and you can play on a spinning wicket, that's fine. At the end of the day, if you're playing there - like you only play one game there - you've just got to prepare accordingly and try to combat that. It's fine in a competition that in the last two years has got very batting-centric - like the scores are starting to get large. Teams can play with a little bit of home-ground advantage. I haven't seen a pitch that's unplayable by any means."
'Bowlers raving about Shreyas Iyer'
At PBKS, Hopes has been reunited with Shreyas Iyer - the pair had previously worked together at Delhi Capitals (DC). Iyer, who is leading PBKS after taking Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title last season, entered the IPL after being India's highest run-getter at the Champions Trophy. Hopes talked up Iyer's calmness on the field, especially in high-pressure situations.
"His batting is world-class, and has got to a point in the last seven weeks - with what he's done at the Champions Trophy and the rest of it - that he's now considered one of the better short-format players in the world," Hopes said. "From a captaincy viewpoint, he keeps everything calm on the field. The bowlers were raving about it after the first game (against GT) that how clear he is with his communication, how calm he is when the ball's flying around, [and] when the game gets on the line."