India’s No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara said the Indian cricketers need to practice more under lights if they intend to play a Day/Night Test abroad in the future.
India is playing their first-ever Day/Night Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and despite being in complete control, Pujara felt the need of ‘getting used’ to the pink ball before setting sight for a similar Test in Australia, South Africa or England. “It is BCCI’s decision to make. But going forward, if we are going to play more pink ball games we will have to practice more under lights and start getting used to this,” Pujara said after the close of play on Day 2.
When asked about whether they would want to play a practice match before their next pink ball assignment, Pujara said it is a bit difficult to do that in the middle of a tour, and they would rather play a red ball practice match simply because it will be the norm.
“If we are playing away from home, you don’t have much time as you play only one of the four matches with the pink ball. You don’t want to have a practice game with the pink ball. You would rather have it with the red ball. You never play a practice game in between the series, so I don’t think it’s practical,” said Pujara.
He said, “I thought to light and the pink ball had a role to play. As a batsman, it is not easy to pick short balls. The pace our fast bowlers have, it is not easy. Their batters haven’t even played any first-class match with the pink ball so it’s not easy”.
“Batting under lights was difficult when I batted yesterday. Even when I saw on TV, the first session is easier to bat as there are no lights. When there are lights, the ball starts swinging a little more. So it is a bit more challenging. The kind of experience we have, most of the Tests we played are under sunlight. So when it comes to playing under lights it is challenging for the batsman,” Pujara added.
