Ind vs Ban: 5 Indian players practise with pink ball under Dravid

Five Indian Test players reportedly trained with the SG pink ball under lights at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami sweat it out nets under the guidance of former India captain and NCA Head of Cricket, Rahul Dravid. 

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According to a report in a leading publication, this was the Indian players' first training session with the SG pink ball, which is set to make its debut in the historic day-night Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens.

Indian players getting the feel of the pink ball:

Agarwal, Rahane, Pujara and Jadeja faced promising Karnataka junior team pacers and spinners. The batsmen were mostly wary in the pacers' net as they left balls outside off in an effort to get acquainted with the pink ball. They had a rather easy time in the spinners’ nets as the Indian batsman smashed the bowlers around. Shami, meanwhile, got into his stride and troubled the batsmen with his pace and swing. The new pink balls offered appreciable swing although it remains to be seen how it will play in the Kolkata Test.

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Dravid was seen talking to the India players and giving instructions to the net bowlers as India ‘A’ head coach Shitanshu Kotak assisted him. The NCA Head after consulting with the Indian team management took the decision of practising with pink balls. 

The report further adds that the plan was to practise for a couple of days at least but the training was restricted to Sunday as the official supplier of the pink ball, Sanspariel Greenlands (SG), delivered only the first batch of 60 pink balls on Saturday, November 9. Bangladesh will receive the pink balls on Monday in Indore which is the venue for the first Test starting November 14.

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Ganguly, who rooted for the first pink-ball Test, was also instrumental in arranging the first pink-ball game in India in June 2016, a Super League final between Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore. BCCI had also used the pink balls in the Duleep Trophy matches that year. Bangladesh have played a domestic final with the pink ball, though that was way back in 2013.

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