With the last vestiges of winter still hanging on — for an unusually long time by Bengaluru’s standards — Indian cricketers hit the ground running at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka which starts on Saturday.
This being a day-night Test – only the third-ever to be played in the country – Rohit Sharma & Co. began their session just before twilight. Sri Lanka, whose cricket left everyone cold during the innings and 222-run defeat in Mohali, chose the warm afternoon sunshine to practise under.
Usual energetic self
Virat Kohli was his usual energetic self, trying flick-ups with the football and showing wholesome commitment in a recreational rondo-like game, played with hands and a tennis ball. He then rolled his arm over and batted for a while.
The returning Axar Patel, who took 11 wickets in India’s last pink-ball Test, against England in Ahmedabad in February 2021, bowled as well.
Later, on the pristine, glazed Chinnaswamy turf, India coach Rahul Dravid, donning the role of a batter, put to test the slip cordon (Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari). There were a fair number of dropped catches, especially from Mayank.
Kohli, back in 2019, had remarked that the pink ball felt as hard as a “heavy hockey ball.” There is one more day to get used to it.
This will also be the first international match to be played under the new unipole floodlights that were installed last year. The lux (amount of illumination) is said to be much higher than that of the old lattice structure and will aid high-definition television coverage. The expectation is for the cricket to match that intensity.