India are all set to play their first-ever day-night Test in Kolkata against Bangladesh. Before that, India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said the pink ball is going to be a very “different ball game”. He again added that its extra lateral movement compared to the red ball which will force batsmen to play late and closer to their bodies as well.
Rahane, along with Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja, had a couple of practice sessions with the pink ball already under the watchful eyes of National Cricket Academy (NCA) Director Rahul Dravid in Bangalore.
“We had two good practice sessions, actually four but two with pink ball one during the day and one under lights. It was actually exciting,” Rahane said. “For me, it was the first time I played with the pink ball and definitely it’s a different ball game as compared to red ball. Our focus was to look into the swing and seam movement and also play close to our body.”
“What we found out after the practice session was that the (new) pink ball does a lot more than the red ball. You have to play slightly late and close to your body. We had a word with Rahul bhai as he was also there,” he said.
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“I think they played with the Kookaburra ball in Duleep trophy, that’s a different thing. With the SG ball, I am not so sure. We played against spinners in Bangalore and they were getting good revs (revolutions) on the ball. Yes, the shine is completely different to red ball but it’s very hard to compare with SG ball and the kookaburra ball,” he explained.
Although Ajinkya Rahane shared that he is starting afresh with no reference point. He also shared his thoughts where he feels that the primary thinking would be to adjust to the pink ball “mentally” and nothing else.
“I’ve never played with the pink ball. And what I’ve heard from other people is that the kookaburra ball is actually really easy for the batsmen. But what we saw in Bangalore is that the SG ball was doing a bit for the fast bowlers. For spinners, it is difficult but it is very hard for me to say right now about kookaburra and SG ball,” he told.
“I’m sure we’ll get two good practice sessions in Kolkata. I’m sure everyone will adjust very quickly. We are used to playing different formats after T20s we play Tests. It’s just the mindset, technical skills will play a role. Mentally if you can adjust to the pink ball, then it’ll be good,” he concluded.
