IND vs BAN,Test Series: Know What To Expect From Pink Ball, Need Little Practice, Says Pujara

Pujara said that things wouldn't be very different from a batsman's perspective when it comes to playing against the pink ball as compared to the conventional red ball

Post their historic win in T20I series against Bangladesh; 'Kohli-led' boys are all set to play under lights against the pink ball as they take on B'desh in a two-match Test-series, starting November 14th. While it will be a historic series for both the teams who will play their maiden Day-Night Test, one player who has performed under lights facing the pink ball is India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara topped the run charts (453) with two hundreds, including a 256 not out for India Blue in the 2016 edition of the Duleep Trophy which was played with the Kookaburra pink ball. Speaking to IANS, Pujara played down the whole debate and said that things wouldn't be very different from a batsman's perspective when it comes to playing against the pink ball as compared to the conventional red ball. "I don't think there will be a major difference when you start playing with the pink ball. Since I haven't played (against the SG pink ball) I am not sure, but my assumption is that even the SG pink ball will be very similar to the red ball. I feel in India the quality of SG balls have improved," India's Test No.3 said. "Looking at the recent series we played against South Africa, the guys were happy with the way the ball maintained shape and even the quality of the ball. So we are expecting the same thing even with the pink ball. When it comes to pink ball, it will be little different from the red ball but I don't see a massive difference." Talking about his experience against the pink Kookaburra, Pujara said that he will look to use muscle memory to begin with as to how the ball will behave. "When I played, it was 2016/17 which is a long time ago. So that can't be considered as an advantage. But yes, that experience will be very helpful for sure, without any doubt. When you have played with pink ball, you know what to expect at what time and what might be on offer. So that experience does help," Pujara asserted. The 31-year old had previously spoken about the twilight period being a problem with the pink ball. "Sometimes it is challenging in twilight playing with the pink ball. You need little more practice and once you keep playing with the pink ball at that time (twilight), you start getting used to it. "So it's just about doing few more practice sessions before we play the match. I will try and practice with the pink ball whenever there is an opportunity," he said. A BCCI official informed IANS that the balls will be delivered to the players directly in Indore this week as they gear up for the opening Test. On his views about Day-Night Tests, Pujara said: "We will have to wait and watch but at this stage it's a nice move."