'Slightly off the mark': Morkel reflects on India's struggles with pink ball under lights

NEW DELHI: India's bowling coach Morne Morkel reckoned that the pacers were unable to fully capitalise on the new pink ball under the lights during the opening evening of the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide.
While their performance showed slight improvement on the second day, Australia still managed to secure a commanding 157-run lead. The hosts then reduced India to 128/5 in the second innings at the close of play on Day 2.
"In the first Test match, our lines and lengths were exceptional, and I think that was the blueprint going for us, into this Test series," Morkel told reporters. "We wanted to bring stumps into play as much as we can, and I felt that last night with the ball moving around a bit. We missed that, we were slightly off the mark in finding the right length."
"At times, we [India in the first innings] were a touch wide, so we allowed the guys to leave a lot of balls. If you look at the history of pink ball Tests, that time of night if you bowl [in those areas], then you can pick up wickets."
"This morning, we got more balls in the right area, more consistently. We bowled better in partnerships."
Jasprit Bumrah stood out during the innings with impressive figures of 4/61, while Mohammed Siraj found success late in the innings, finishing with a four-wicket haul despite conceding runs at four an over.
In contrast, newcomer Harshit Rana, playing only his second Test, endured a challenging outing, conceding 86 runs at over five per over without taking a wicket.
Morkel sympathised with the young pacer, describing the experience as "painful" but hopeful, suggesting it could serve as a valuable learning curve for his development.
"Harshit Rana is playing his second Test match, it will be a big learning curve for him, playing his first time in Australia. He is a guy who will learn from today and we can just look to get better."
"Test cricket is a tough place. There is no place to hide. He has only played his second Test match, he is going to learn from these conversations. I think the biggest job for me is to put my arms around him today. Playing in front of 50,000 people, that is intimidating.
"I want him to feel as a guy with a lot of potential, that we still back him as a team, we definitely do that. [I want to] just keep on having conversations with him, to keep learning. Ask good questions [to him]."
"Days like today [are] helpful. Even though they are painful, they are helpful in the longer way."