ZCZC
BSP-25
CRICKET-CAPTAIN-PINK-BALL
Captains lament for practice match ahead of pink ball cricket
KOLKATA, Nov 21, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque and India captain Virat Kohli emphasized on practice match ahead of the day-night Test, saying the team needs to get a chance to make them adapt with cricket under lights.
Both of Bangladesh and India are set to enter into an unknown territory of pink ball cricket when the Kolkata Test, the second and final match of the two-match series, begins tomorrow (Friday) at historical Eden Gardens.
None of the team had any chance to play with a pink ball practice match and enters into the match with the experience of just four sessions of practice. Some of Indian players however though played pink ball cricket in domestic circuit recently; Bangladesh players’ only pink ball experience in domestic cricket was way back in 2013 National Cricket League (NCL).
Mominul said that they had to take away their mind from the fact that there was no practice match with pink ball.
”We didn’t get any opportunity for practice game in pink ball. At that moment we can’t do anything. At that time the only thing you can do is you can take your mind away from it [no practice game available],” Mominul said here on Thursday.
”I think that is the most important thing when you have any opportunity [of practice game with pink ball] it is better to take away your mind from it,” he said adding that it should not be the case in future.
”Definitely if you want to play any Test match in pink ball you should have practice match,” he said.
Though Bangladesh had a practice match ahead of their lone Test match against India at Hyderabad in 2018 it was not the case when the tourist played their opening Test at Indore, where they were humiliated by the host inside three days.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli echoed the same ahead of their maiden Test match in pink ball as they did not have any practice game ahead of their historical pink ball Test match.
”I think it depends when the Test happens. If it’s the first Test, then obviously before the first game you play. One of them can be normal red ball practice game, and one before the Test could be a pink ball practice game. But if it’s the second of third Test, I would ideally like more break between the two Tests.
“And have a practice game before the pink ball Test, whenever that is, obviously playing under lights. So it can’t be that before the tour you play a pink ball practice game and then the Test is actually third. That wouldn’t make any sense. So I think whenever it is, there should be a practice game planned just before that Test and accordingly we should have enough days in between,” Kohli said.
BSS/SMP/SMM/1825 hrs