D/N Test: Virat Kohli Reveals Team India's Biggest Challenge With 'Pink Ball'

When asked what challenges his team faced while training, the skipper replied that what surprised him the most were 'fielding sessions with the different-coloured ball'

D/N Test: Virat Kohli Reveals Team India's Biggest Challenge With 'Pink Ball'/ Photo Courtesy: AFP/ BCCI (Twitter)

Kolkata: Ahead of team India's historic pink ball Test at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday revealed that fielding with the SG pink ball is a very challenging task. Virat & Co. went through fielding drills under lights on Wednesday ahead of the historic occasion. When asked what challenges his team faced while training, the skipper replied that what surprised him the most were 'fielding sessions with the different-coloured ball'. "Batting is something we were focusing a lot. As batsmen you think of cutting down those errors when you are playing with a different-coloured ball. We were looking to solidify our technique. We are fine with that. But what surprised me were fielding sessions," said the captain. "How in the slips the ball hits your hand so hard, it almost felt like a heavy hockey ball or those synthetic balls you used to play with as a kid. It felt like that on the hand and it's purely because of extra glaze on the ball. It's much more hardened and felt a little heavy although there won't be much of a difference in terms of weight. Even the throws took lot more effort than the red ball to reach the keeper," Kohli explained. Kohli further said that high catching during the day would become very difficult due to visibility of the ball being an issue. "Dip perception was very difficult when the ball went up in the air. So during the day, high catches will be very difficult. We had to watch the ball straight into our palms more often than not. With red and white balls, you have an idea of how fast the ball is coming down but with the pink ball, if you don't look at the ball until your palms, it's gone. "Fielding session was much more challenging. People are going to be surprised how challenging fielding with this ball can be," Kohli emphasised. Among other challenges, the Indian skipper said batters need to have a better idea of where their off-stump is. "Your idea of off-stump, that's going to be the most crucial thing because even yesterday when we practised, we felt that the ball could be closer to you but it's actually not that close to the off-stump. That channel one has to be careful," said Kohli. "It will require more concentration, more solid technique, a more compact game compared to the red ball purely because anyway in the longer format, the ball does a lot more than the white ball. Add not having great visibility or the ability to pick that colour makes it even more difficult. So as you can imagine decision-making has to be very precise. "Even while catching the ball, we felt like how wee feel like when we play with the white ball in the afternoon. You don't really know how far the ball is and then it hits your hand very quickly. Even in the slips, it was flying very fast. I think the extra glaze on the ball is making it travel faster and it hits the hand very hard." Kohli said change is good and sometimes the "template" needs to be changed in order to make things exciting. "It's going to be a challenge and it should excite everyone. Sometimes you need to change the template and be excited for new challenges and new things you are going to try out. We'll have to be very precise and our skills are going to be tested in this test."