A ‘pink’ revolution’ in cricket seems imminent with Sourav Ganguly at the helm. A sports goods company in Bengal wants to rake in the bucks.
As far as visibility of balls in day-night matches in the longer format, pink balls are most ideal option, feel many cricket pundits. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly also feels sighting the pink ball is ‘easier’ than the red cherry.

A sports goods manufacturing company in Siliguri is going to manufacture pink cricket balls. The firm has received orders from the Northeast and Bangladesh.

“We have already started the process to manufacture the balls at our manufacturing unit in Meerut, where skilled workers are doing the job. I am expecting to introduce the new ball for quality control within 15 days,” he added.

The company runs two sports goods manufacturing units in Jalandhar in Punjab and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

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A sports enthusiast himself,  Bhattacharjee, who has been a veteran in this field, with years of experience, has expanded the business base with active involvement of his son, Gaurab.

“The pink bal has created an excitement among sports lovers. We are confident that SILCO’s pink balls will be popular, and that we get good orders,” said Gaurab, who holds the post of managing director of SILCO.

The Siliguri-based sports goods store first started its journey on 15 November, 1980, while it later set up manufacturing units in Jalandhar (1994) and Meerut (2010). It has opened another outlet in Kolkata recently.

SILCO, the only registered such brand in north Bengal, has carved a niche for itself in manufacturing of football, tennis ball, volley ball, basketball, and sports shoes. It has also tied up with the All Nepal Football Association for sponsoring footballs and boots.

The company is further planning to set up another manufacturing unit near Siliguri soon.

Many wholesale traders of sporting goods in Siliguri said they had also received queries from cricket enthusiasts about the availability of pink balls.