IND vs ENG : It is much more challenging to play with pink ball, reveals Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, ahead of the Pink Ball Day-Night Test against England, has reckoned that playing with a pink ball under lights is a different challenge altogether and regardless of pitch conditions, you have to grind it out.
India will take on England in their third-ever Day-Night Test in Ahmedabad with a lot at stake for both sides. A win is all both teams need to stay in contention for the World Test Championship finals but the novelty of Day-Night Test matches will add a lot of drama to the process.
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Virat Kohli has conceded that the match will be challenging for the players to adapt quickly not to stay far behind in the game.
“It is much more challenging to play with the pink ball regardless of the pitch you play on. Especially in the evening, if as a batting team, you are starting your innings under lights then that one and a half hour is very challenging,” Kohli said in the pre-match press conference.
“Yes spin will come into play for sure but I don’t think the new ball and fast bowlers can be ignored. The pink ball does bring them into the game till the ball is nice and shiny, something we are very well aware of and preparing accordingly,” added Kohli.
Kohli not concerned about England’s strengths and weaknesses
Yesterday, Ben Stokes talked about how the English pacers are leaking their leaps at the prospect of bowling with the pink ball in Ahmedabad which he said offered a disproportionate amount of help to the pacers. However, Kohli stated that India have good enough pacers to tackle the challenge of seaming wicket.
“Not really bothered about what the strengths and weaknesses of the English team are. We have beaten them in their home as well, where the ball does way more and hold them out every time so we’re not really bothered with that. It’s just about playing well as a team,” said Kohli in the online press conference, reported TOI.
“And yeah, there are many, many weaknesses in the opposition side as well, if you are keen to exploit them. If it’s a seamer-friendly track for them it’s for us as well.
“And we probably have, you know, among other teams, the best bowling attack in the world so we’re not really bothered by what the ball might bring differently to the table. We’re ready for anything that comes our way,” he asserted.