‘It’s challenging to play with pink ball regardless of pitch’

Ahmedabad: India captain Virat Kohli feels that it would be a big challenge playing with the pink ball when the hosts play England in the third Test at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium at Motera in the day-night encounter starting on Wednesday.
Kohli, however, slightly differed from India opener Rohit Sharma, who two days ago had said that Motera should be a spinner-friendly track like the one witnessed during the second Test at Chennai where it started turning from the first session itself.
The India captain believes that the speedsters should not be ignored as the ball will assist them in the beginning till it shines but felt that spinners will have a role to play later as well.
“The pink ball swings a lot more than the red ball. During our first experience with the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in 2019, we felt that it was much more challenging, especially during the evening hours. When the sun was shining the ball did not do much but when it got dark it got very challenging and tricky. The ball tends to swing too much and the batsman has to adjust a lot. It’s always challenging to play with the pink ball regardless of what the pitch has to offer,’’ he said.
Kohli seemed positive about the outcome of the match and said the team's focus was to win both the Tests at Motera.
“We have defeated England at their own backyard some time ago where the ball swings a lot.’’
On India's capitulation for 36 in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide in December last year, Kohli sought to remind everyone that England too were bundled out for 58 in their pink-ball Test against New Zealand in Auckland and thus it will not have any impact of the outcome of this match.
"Both are bizarre experiences for two quality sides," said Kohli. ‘‘Barring those 45 minutes, we dominated the Adelaide Test. We brushed that result aside and won in Melbourne later," he said.
Kohli also lauded veteran speedster Ishant Sharma, who is set to become the second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Tests, and Ravichandran Ashwin who he referred to as a ‘smart’ cricketer.
"For a fast bowler, it is indeed a big achievement to play 100 Tests,’’ said Kohli, who has known Ishant from his Ranji days when they were roommates on several occasions. Kohli said they still shared a great bonding. “Ash (Ashwin) is very smart and very sharp and understands his field positioning,’’ said Kohli.