IND vs AUS 2nd Test: Team India gears up for the pink ball challenge at Adelaide

India batters get down to business and train against the pink ball, the most confronting aspect of Friday’s second Test against Australia; skipper Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant arrive nearly an hour before their teammates

If the Indian team were hoping for a quiet, meaningful practice session at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday afternoon, then only half their wish came true. It was meaningful all right, but anything but quiet.

South Gate thrown open

In a unique initiative, Cricket Australia threw South Gate open for fans to witness from close quarters the training stints of Australia (in the morning) and India in the lead-up to the second Test, starting on Friday. No more than a couple of hundred turned up for the Australian session but by the time the Indians hit their straps, nearly 3,000 spectators, almost exclusively Indian, thronged the ground, watching their heroes go through fielding drills on the Oval outfield before retreating to the adjacent nets, where they batted in pairs.

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Chants of jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega and Bharat Mata ki jai rent the air, providing a festive atmosphere against the backdrop of which Rohit Sharma’s men had their first full taste in the nets of the pink ball, which develops a roughish nature under floodlights in the last session. With Rishabh Pant in tow, the captain arrived at the nets almost an hour before the rest, working on a slightly remodelled technique with a gentle back-and-across half-step and a somewhat open front leg.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir, who rejoined the team in the morning, was at hand but it was assistant coach Abhishek Nayar who kept a close watch on Rohit. The two spoke occasionally between balls to ascertain Rohit’s footwork, mostly, and the captain looked in excellent touch facing up to Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep and Yash Dayal, all operating with new balls.

Foot-volleyball first

After joining his mates for a game of foot-volleyball which preceded ground fielding and catching drills, Rohit was back at the nets, pairing up with Pant. Each of the four nets was also populated at various stages by the pairings of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, Virat Kohli – for whom, to no one’s surprise, the loudest cheers were reserved – and Shubman Gill, and Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy. With speculation growing over where Rohit will bat on his return to the side after the 201-run opening-wicket alliance between Jaiswal and Rahul in the second innings in Perth, this too can be conveniently construed as batters batting together according to their possible positions in the order.

All eight batters looked reasonably comfortable against the large contingent of Indian pacers and the three throwdown specialists, though it mustn’t be forgotten that for the most part, they batted in natural light — the harsh sun beat down even as late as 7.45 pm. The pink ball develops a mind of its own when the floodlights come on, making batting challenging beyond words. In a way, therefore, a pink ball Test between two equally matched sides can become a bit of a lottery, depending on who is bowling at night, a reality Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey too acknowledged.

Carey makes a point

“It is that unique one where you know you like to bowl under lights and bat during the day, but it doesn’t always unfold like that,” Carey pointed out. That’s exactly what makes a pink-ball game full of twists and intrigue.

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