IND vs BAN | Need extra concentration with pink ball, have to work on reflexes, reveals Virat Kohli
India captain Virat Kohli, who has played with the pink ball ahead of the series against Bangladesh that includes a Day-Night Test, has opined that it is difficult to pick it while the seam holds upright. Kohli believes that if the pitch is good enough, it would be a bowler's game.
India’s regular skipper across formats Virat Kohli, who was rested for the T20 series against Bangladesh, returns to lead the hosts in the two-match Test series against the same opposition. While the first Test of the series is scheduled to start tomorrow (November 14), all eyes are set on the second encounter at the Eden Gardens. The second Test match will be a day-night affair, the first for both the nations and will commence from November 22.
Kohli has expressed his joy and excitement of taking on the pink cherry for the first time as he shared his experience of facing the pink ball in the nets. India’s Test No. 4 shared that the pink ball is difficult to spot and the seam holds upright a bit.
"Well, I hadn't played with the pink ball before. So I was given the experience to try it and I wanted to, that was my mindset behind playing with the pink ball. I think everyone else did it as well," Times Now quoted Kohli saying so during the pre-match press conference.
"You need extra concentration to pick the pink ball suddenly when you are playing with the red ball, so it was to work on the reflexes as well. When you play with the red ball at the net and then you arrive at the pink ball it is very difficult to pick it up, so to get into the zone was the reason behind it.
"The pink ball I have played yesterday, I think it swings a lot more compared to the red ball because there's extra lacquer on the ball and doesn't go away too fast and the seam holds upright quite a bit. If the pitch has enough for the bowler then the bowlers will be in the game, especially the fast bowlers," he added.
India are currently placed at the top of the World Test Championship points table, with 240 points, having won all of their five matches while Bangladesh will be playing their first match of the Championship. Kohli hailed the bowling department of the team as the key to their success in recent times as the 31-year-old stressed that the neighbours shouldn't be taken lightly as India look to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship.
"We will not take any batsman or bowler from Bangladesh lightly. When they play well, they can be a very skilful team."
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