Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Ahead of the pink-ball, day-night second Test against Australia at Adelaide, Indian batter KL Rahul opened up on challenges experienced with the pink-ball so far, saying that it feels much quicker and harder while playing.
Rahul, who played crucial knocks of 26 and 77 in India’s Perth Test win by 295 runs, will once again be in focus during the second Test at Adelaide Oval starting from Friday onwards. The Adelaide Test sees India entering with both a mental and physical edge, following a dominant performance in the first Test led by Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling and captaincy.
However, the visitors will also aim to exorcise the memories of the infamous 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, where they were dismissed for their lowest Test score of 36 runs. On that occasion, Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) dismantled the Indian batting line-up, giving Australia a straightforward target of 90 runs to chase.
Speaking ahead of the match in the pre-match press conference, KL said that it is his first pink-ball match and he has been speaking with players who have featured in these matches for guidance.
“This will be my first pink ball Test match, so I don’t have game experience as much as some of the other players who have played, so for us it is just about speaking to the guys who have played and trying to understand what were the things that they found hard or how did they manage to, if there were any changes that they made,” he said.
He said that the pink ball is just a little different from the red ball in terms of seeing the ball and picking up a delivery from a bowler’s hand and it is challenging.
“But we have got a bit of time, we have been training hard and hopefully by the time the game starts, we will have had enough practice sessions and we will get used to what the pink ball does. Like I said, I try and keep it really simple,” he added.
Rahul said that for the last few days, the team has been trying to gain an understanding about the reaction of pink ball and how hard and easy it is to play against it. He also expects help for fast bowlers and seam movement during the match, something which was there in plenty during day one of the Perth Test.
“That is something that we faced even in the nets. But that happened even in Perth on day one. There was a lot of sea movement and I am sure that will be the same,” he added.
Rahul said that picking up a pink ball off a bowler’s hand was not as easy as it is with the white and red ball and the team needs to get used to it.
“The ball seems a bit more harder than the red ball. While fielding as well, you can feel it hitting your hand a lot quicker and a lot harder. Same with batting, it just seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball,” he added.
Irrespective of the challenges, Rahul is excited for his first pink ball experience. “I am going in with a clean slate and I will go there and see what really happens and try and face up to whatever comes my way.”
India are currently 1-0 up in the BGT series following their record-shattering 295-run victory in Perth. The second Test will be played in a day-night format in Adelaide, beginning from Friday.
