Remembering first Pink Test: Umpire Ravi's mantra was "Late to bed and Late to Rise"

India's only Elite Panel umpire in recent times S Ravi had to forcibly change his "sleeping pattern" in order to adjust his body clock to the needs of the first-ever Day/Night Test between Australia and New Zealand back in 2015.

Umpiring in the first-ever pink ball match at Adelaide four years ago was not easy and Ravi prepared well in advance that included "late-to-bed and late-to-rise" pattern to prepare his body for the rigours of the game.

The 53-year-old former cricketer from Chennai first attended an ICC workshop in Dubai two months in advance and officiating in a two-day tour match between New Zealand and Western Australia XI at Perth, six days before the etched-in-history Tran-Tansman battle at the Adelaide Oval from November 27.

Describing D/N Test as like standing in a five back-to-back ODIs, Ravi said he had his "usual butterflies" but was well-prepared.

"A pink-ball Test is like officiating five back to back ODIs. More or less same timing. It's like umpiring five ODIs back-to-back. So your preparation should be such that you think that you're standing in five ODIs back-to-back," Ravi told PTI in an exclusive interaction from Surat, where he's officiating in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Super League for the domestic T20s.

"I started sleeping little late and waking up late. You know the game would get over around 10-10.30 pm and by the time you reach hotel and sleep it's really late. So I practised sleeping late so that my body clock is adjusted to that pattern."
"It was about getting used to the colour of the ball. Floodlights were of course not as good but it was a good preparation."
"Before any Test, you will have nerves and butterflies. I was really excited. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I had my usual nerves and butterflies. But I was excited to see how pink ball Test would turn out to be."
"They have officiated in D/N Tests and they are experienced enough. They will change glasses once the sun sets in. Otherwise it's normal, no extra preparation is needed."