IND vs BAN | Adapting to pink ball only challenge in Day/Night Test, says Cheteshwar Pujara

11/02/2019

Indian Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara believes that the actual adjustment that needs to be made during the D/N test is adapting to the pink ball. Pujara had scored a mammoth 453 runs in the Duleep Trophy which included a 256-run knock for India Blue in 2016 where the pink ball was first introduced.

Indian Test specialist Chesteshwar Pujara believes that adjusting mentally is more important and one of the major challenges in D/N matches will be sighting the pink ball during the night time. Sourav Ganguly had first introduced pink-ball as a member of BCCi's technical committee in Duleep Trophy in 2016. India are all set to create history by playing their first-ever pink-ball Test against Bangladesh, thanks to the constant efforts of BCCI President Ganguly and Pujara is extremely excited about the occasion.

"It's going to be exciting...What we played was a first-class match, this is going to be a Test match. I'm sure all the players are excited about it," Pujara told the TOI.

Pujara is one of the few Indian players who have experienced playing with a pink ball. He feels that sighting it might be the only problem as it may get darker as it gets old and it may get dirtier with dew a sure factor at the Eden Gardens.

"In the twilight period, I feel that maybe, sighting the ball could be a little challenging. (But) the more you play, you get used to it. It's always about experience and knowing how the ball is behaving," he said.

"The more we play, the more we gain experience of how to tackle the ball. Every ball has its challenges. I don't think it will require a huge change to shift from red ball to pink ball. The reason is it's the same format. We are still playing a five-day match," he further added.

Pujara believes that the bowlers will get a bit of help as the pink ball will swing more when the lights turn on and the twilight period begins. Wriddhiman Saha had also mentioned the same thing when he had played the CAB Super League final and had experienced Mohammad Shami swinging the ball in such conditions at the Eden Gardens.

"Yes, under lights, it will be different. But it's about getting used to the pink ball. That's what I feel. Rest, I don't think will be a major difference. Once we play some Test matches, we will be able to know the exact difference and can improvise," said Pujara.

Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav also have the experience of playing with the pink ball. These players can help other Indian players in the squad in having a fair idea about how the ball might behave and what strategies can one prepare.

Pujara did not have a great series against South Africa by his standards. He got out when he was well set on 81 against South Africa, something that does not generally happen. But nevertheless, he is not putting any extra pressure on himself and he believes that if he keeps working hard on his game and is determined to get better after every inning, good results will come in due course of time.

"You don't have to put pressure on yourself and at the same time you have to keep working on your game, keep getting better," he concluded.