Ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka starting on Saturday, Indian cricketers hit the ground running at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday – unusually long by Bengaluru standards – with the last remnants of winter still dangling. Huh.
It is a day-night Test – only the third to be played in the country – as Rohit Sharma & Co began its season just before twilight. Sri Lanka, whose cricket turned everyone cold during the innings and after a 222-run loss in Mohali, chose the hot sunny afternoon to practice.
general energetic self
Virat Kohli was his usual energetic self, trying out flick-ups with football and showing good commitment in a recreational rondo-like sport, played with hands and a tennis ball. Then he moved his hand and batted for a while.
Axar Patel, who took 11 wickets in India’s last pink ball Test against England in Ahmedabad in February 2021, also bowled.
The wind in their sails: Rohit, right, and Ashwin will try to blow up Lanka the same way they did in Mohali. , photo credit: K. Murli Kumar
Later, on the pristine, glazed Chinnaswamy ground, India coach Rahul Dravid, playing the role of a batsman, put the slip cordon (Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari) to the test. In particular, Mayank’s catches were missed.
Kohli had remarked back in 2019 that the pink ball feels as hard as a “heavy hockey ball”. Another day to get used to it.
It will also be the first international match to be played under the new Unipole floodlights installed last year. The lux (amount of light) is said to be much higher than the old lattice structure and will aid in high definition television coverage. Hopefully cricket will match that intensity.