The Indian deputy skipper in Tests, Ajinkya Rahane conceded that the Indian fast bowler, Ishant Sharma’s absence will definitely be felt by the team but barred from answering the questions regarding India’s possible XI for the opening Day/Night Test against Australia starting in Adelaide on Thursday. Rahane also spoke about how the pink ball’s increased pace off the pitch during the 40-50 minutes of the twilight session, will be the biggest challenge for any batsman.
talking about the same, Rahane said, “I think, we do really have a strong attack but yes we will definitely miss Ishant, being the senior fast bowler. The guys who are here Umesh (Yadav), (Navdeep) Sani, (Mohammed) Siraj with Jasprit (Bumrah) and (Mohammed) Shami, they are all really good and experienced and they know how to bowl in these conditions…this is a new series starting with the pink ball, but I do believe that we have the attack to get 20 wickets.”
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On the possible opening combination among the four available options (Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul) and two options for wicketkeeping (Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant), Rahane said a decision will be taken on the eve of the match.
Talking about the sa combination, Ajinkya Rahane said, “See, we have still not decided what’s our combination going to be. We will sit tomorrow, there is another day to go, one more practice session to go, we will sit tomorrow and discuss what’s our combination…but see whoever plays, it is going to be like, everyone is equally there, everyone is equally talented, whoever plays, they can win the match for us, so it is all about trusting our players.”
The Indian deputy skipper also didn’t give any definitive answer regarding the inclusion of the senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s role although he did acknowledge that his all-round skills will be very handy going into the first Test.
Rahane elaborated, “Ashwin’s role will be very important. We all know that he is an experienced bowler, he has got variety in his bowling, so his role as a bowler and also as a batsman will be really important.”
What Rahane added to the theory on the day was an increase in speed off the pitch during a period of 40 to 50 minutes, which is not the case for normal red balls.
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“I feel in the day, the new pink ball slightly moves, but then after that it becomes easy to bat…when the twilight period comes, for 40-50 minutes, that becomes a bit challenging for the batsmen to focus. In case of red ball, when we play throughout the day, the pace does not change suddenly, but with the pink ball, within 40-50 minutes, the pace changes completely. It is very important to make adjustments there,” he said.
