Forty-eight hours into the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide, India knows what its batting order will look like, particularly who its openers will be.
So it looks like Rohit, who has been a regular for India at the top of the order for the last five years, has made his decision. He batted at number 4 in Canberra, where Virat Kohli did not feature in the practice game against the Prime Minister’s XI. That was the only chance India had to face the pink ball in a match situation and it is telling that they were happy with Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top.
India have since moved to Adelaide and spent two sessions in the nets, getting used to the rhythms of day-night cricket, and found it quite enlightening. Rahul said it has not always been easy to see the ball out of hand. Mohammed Siraj said holding it in your hand can feel a little strange at first. Those are steps one and two of batting and bowling and they almost have to be relearned. Only eight members of this team have ever played day-night Test cricket and of them, only three (Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin) have experienced the peculiarities of this format in Australia.
These quirks arise from the pink ball having a few extra layers of lacquer to protect it from wearing away too quickly and that seems to have a significant impact on the way it behaves. “[It] It seems a little harder than the red ball,” Rahul said. “While playing too, you can feel it hitting your hand a lot. Much faster and much more difficult. Same with batting. It just seems to get to you much faster than the red ball.
“It comes together a little more than the red ball. [too]. So that’s the challenge we’re looking forward to. For me it’s exciting because it’s my first pink ball game. So I’m going to go in with a clean state. I’ll go there and see what’s really going on. And try to face whatever comes my way.
“We’ve seen enough night owls to know that if you put the new rock under the lights with two new hitters, it can be very difficult.”
Damian Hough, the Adelaide curator
“These days have only been about understanding how the ball reacts. And how easy or difficult it is to play against the pink ball. If you look at all the games that have been played with the pink ball, it really hasn’t lasted very long.
“So that tells you that there will be a lot of help for the fast bowlers. And there will be a lot of seam movement. That is something we faced even in the nets. But that happened even in Perth on the first day. There was a lot of seam movement and I am sure which will be the same. [in Adelaide]”.
There are also strategies unique to day-night Test cricket. Australia, who have won every day-night match in Adelaide, usually try to bat first, bat hard and prepare to bowl at dusk on the second day. The 15 to 20 minutes before sunset, which will be around 8 pm local time, and the 15 to 20 minutes after are the times that teams pay special attention to.
“It’s just about getting used to seeing the ball in someone’s hand and getting used to that,” Rahul said. “And I feel like that’s the first step of a hitter. If you can choose that, then you have the best chance to react and be in good positions. So yeah, that’s been something that all the hitters have been talking about and trying to do. to play”. “A lot more balls to get you used to.”
“Everything seems to be the same,” Hough said of the pitch he’s preparing. “So of course it’s matted grass, even a grassy cover, good deep moisture, but dry and hard. So something where the rapids will get a little bit of mileage, the spinners will be able to get some height and bounce , but also important for [batters] to get a few associations at most and be able to play his shots.
“Both teams have elite bowlers, world-class bowlers. I mean, we’ve seen enough day bowlers to know that if you put the new rock under the lights with two new batsmen, it can be very difficult. So, ya You know, teams obviously play that game and adapt and are quite tactical when they do it. If there is an opportunity to put the new ball under the lights, it will be difficult, so if they don’t, the Shield tone showed that yes. If you don’t put the new ball under the lights and you’ve got a couple of batsmen lined up, you can see through night cricket.”
