On the eve of the Day-Night Test in Ahmedabad, India skipper Virat Kohli and his England counterpart Joe Root spoke about the challenges of playing during the twilight phase – when batting collapses usually happen.
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It will be the first time that India and England face each other in a pink ball Test. The four-Test series is currently tied at 1-1.
"It's much more challenging to play with the pink ball regardless of what pitch you are playing on. And especially in the evening, if, as a batting team, you are starting your innings under lights, then that one-and-a-half hour is challenging," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference.
"When it starts to get dark, especially during that twilight period, it gets very tricky. Light changes, it's difficult to sight the ball and under lights is like playing the first session in the morning in a normal Test match. The ball tends to swing a lot," he added.
During their last pink ball Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, India got bowled out for their lowest-ever total of 36 to succumb to an eight-wicket defeat.
On the other hand, England were also dismissed for 58 in their Day-Night Test against New Zealand in 2018.
However, the Indian captain is not reading too much into it.
"Both are bizarre experiences for two quality sides," Kohli said. "Barring that 45 minutes of bad cricket (in Adelaide) we dominated the Test match. We are very confident in how we play the pink ball."
Echoing the sentiments, Root said batsmen need to be extra cautious and not just in the evening.
"I think there's been a trend in all the pink-ball Test matches of collapses on occasion," Root told a separate news conference.
"It seems to be a trend and it's something as a batting group you need to make sure you stop," he said.
"It's sometimes been right at the start of the game, you know the morning session, late on in day four, that this strange sort of passages of play has happened."
He added: "When you get that opportunity and you're on the right side of it, you're in the field with a ball in hand, you really get and roll with it. You take every opportunity and chance and you make that really count in your favour.
"Similarly with a bat in hand, you've just got to really make sure those (first) 20 balls, you're fighting with everything you've got to get yourself in, get accustomed to the wicket, the conditions and make sure you build that partnership which is so vital."
(With AFP inputs)
