‘Treat it like normal Test with reversed sessions’
AHMEDABAD: Virat Kohli wants India to approach the pink-ball Test against England like a normal five-day match but with the sessions reversed, the home captain said on the eve of the third Test in Ahmedabad from Wednesday. Kohli’s century helped India crush Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in their maiden pink-ball Test in late 2019. The 32-year-old remembers his lessons from that day-night contest in Kolkata 15 months ago and wants his team to apply them in the third test against Joe Root’s men.
“Last time we experienced that the first session is probably the nicest to bat, when the sun is out and the ball doesn’t do much,” Kohli told a video conference on Tuesday. “But when it starts to get dark, especially during that twilight, it gets very tricky. The light changes and it’s difficult to sight the ball.
“And then under the lights, it’s like playing the first session in the morning in a normal Test match. The ball does tend to swing a lot. So I think it’s a reversal of roles and something that you need to adjust to quite quickly as a batsman.”
Every batsman, however set he might be, must “start from scratch” in the evening, he said.
The morning session of a normal test match is often the best time for a fast bowler, but Kohli recalled the Kolkata contest and said conditions would favour the quicks more in the evening. I think the same kind of template will be useful in this game as well, and these are the few differences from a normal Test match scenario,” he said. “The pink ball does tend to swing a lot more than the normal red ball,” he said. “Yes spin will come into play for sure, but I don’t think the new ball and the fast bowlers can be ignored. The pink ball does bring them into the game.”
Not got real clarity on balance of attack: Root
England skipper Joe Root on Tuesday said he is yet to have “real clarity” on what should be his bowling combination for the day-night third Test and will wait some more before finalising it. “We’re going to take our time with the limited information we have on this (Motera) ground and pink ball cricket. You know, we are going to make sure, we give ourselves as much (time) as possible heading into the game before we make a decision,” Root said on the eve of the match.
The England think tank has a selection headache both in bowling and batting departments.
In bowling they have Jofra Archer fit and available along with veteran pace spearhead James Anderson, who is back in fray after workload management kept him out of the second Test. Stuart Broad is also in contention for a spot.
“It’s great to see him (Archer) back bowling again, we are excited. He is a world class performer and have got all the skills...it’s a very exciting place to be to have now a battery of fast bowlers to choose from,” Root said.