Indian batsman KL Rahul discussed the difficulties he has faced with the pink ball thus far, stating that it seems faster and more difficult to play with, ahead of the pink-ball, day-night second Test match against Australia in Adelaide.
Rahul, who contributed vital knocks of 26 and 77 to India’s 295-run Test victory in Perth, will once more be the centre of attention for the second Test at Adelaide Oval beginning on Friday.
India comes into the Adelaide Test with a psychological and physical advantage after dominating the first Test under the leadership and bowling of Jasprit Bumrah. The tourists, nevertheless, will also have to shake off the memory of the notorious 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, in which they were dismissed after scoring just 36 runs, their lowest Test score. That time, Australia had an easy goal of 90 runs to chase after Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) destroyed the Indian batting lineup.
It is KL’s first pink-ball match, and he has been consulting with players who have played in similar matches for advice, he stated during the pre-match news conference. “I don’t have as much game experience as some of the other players who have played, and this will be my first pink ball Test match,” he said. “For us, it’s just about talking to the guys who have played and trying to understand what they found difficult or how they managed to, if there were any changes that they made.”
He claimed that it is difficult to see the ball and pick up a delivery from a bowler’s hand when using the pink ball because it is slightly different from the red ball. However, we have some time, have been practicing diligently, and should have had enough practice sessions to become accustomed to the pink ball’s actions by the time the game begins. I try to make it pretty simple, as I mentioned,” he continued.
According to Rahul, the squad has been attempting to comprehend the pink ball’s reaction and how difficult and simple it is to play against it over the past few days. In addition, he anticipates assistance for seam movement and fast bowlers, both of which were abundant on the first day of the Perth Test.
Even in the nets, we had to deal with that. But even on the first day, that occurred in Perth. He continued, “There was a lot of sea movement, and I’m sure that will be the same.” According to Rahul, the squad needs to adjust to picking up a pink ball off a bowler’s hand because it is more difficult than picking up a white and red ball.
“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.
Australia squad:
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
India squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal. (ANI)