After the T20I series win, India is ready to play the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh. The team has headed to play the first Test match of this series starting from 14th November in Indore. Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday (12th November) talked about the preparation of the team ahead of the series.
The highlight of the series is the pink ball game. The second Test match, starting from 22nd November, is the day-night Test match which will be played at Eden Garden (Kolkata). It is the first time that both the teams will play a day-night Test match. Ajinkya Rahane addressed the media about the challenges they might face in playing the pink ball game.
Strategy for Pink ball
He said that the pink ball is a “different ball game”. He felt excited to play with the ball in the practice session in National Cricket Academy (NCA). The strategy to play Pink ball is to focus on the swing and seam movement and play closer to the body.
“I think regarding NCA, we had two good practice sessions, actually three or four but two with the pink ball – one during the day and one under lights. It was actually exciting. “
“For me, it was the first time I played with a pink ball and definitely it’s a different ball game as compared to the red ball. Our focus was to look into the swing and seam movement and also play close to our body,” ” Rahane said.
The question arising in everyone’s mind is how will the ball behave when dew comes. Ajinkya Rahane also doesn’t know the answer to this question. He opined that before the match, the team will get an evening practice session which will clear all the doubts.
“Generally when dew comes into play, it becomes easy for the batsman. But I don’t know about the pink SG ball how it goes on to play when dew comes in. We’ll have to wait and see. I’m sure we’ll get one evening practice session in Kolkata. We’ll get an idea of when the dew comes in how the ball will behave,” Rahane said.
Ajinkya Rahane is planning his comeback in ODI
Talking about his own performance, Rahane said that he was confident to get back his place in the ODI. He has opined that if he starts scoring runs in Test matches, he will be definitely in ODI team.
“I just need to play well in the Test matches, keep scoring runs and I am confident that I will be back in the ODI side. It is all about self-belief and being confident. Staying in the present will help me if I contribute to the side’s cause in Tests, I am sure I will be back in the ODI squad.”