Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], February 23 (ANI): Day-night Tests are known to help seamers, but India skipper Virat Kohli isn’t perturbed about what the pink ball brings to the table. In fact, the Indian skipper wants to further exploit the weakness of the visiting side when the two teams lock horns in the third Test at the Motera Stadium from Wednesday.
Kohli feels the day-night Test is evenly poised for both sides as India has the “best bowling to attack” to exploit seam-friendly conditions.
“By doing what we are doing for years now, that is play good cricket (how to ensure hosts don’t give an inch to the visiting team). Our focus solely remains on our team. I am not really bothered about what the strength and weaknesses of the English team are.
“We have beaten them in their home as well where the ball does way more movement. It’s just about playing well as a team and yes there are many weaknesses in the visiting side as well and we are keen to exploit them,” said Kohli while replying to a query from ANI on the eve of the third Test.
“If the track is seamer-friendly for them it is for us as well and we probably have the best bowling attack in the world among other teams. So not really bothered by what the ball might bring to the table. We are ready for anything that comes our way,” he added.
England was dismissed for 58 during a day-night Test against New Zealand in 2018 and India had a similar fate during the first Test against Australia in December last year.
But Kohli feels these are the experiences from which you learn and there is nothing haunting about the pink-ball Test even after getting bowled out for 36 in the last day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.
The India skipper also highlighted how the visiting side had dominated the first Test against Australia and it was just 45 minutes of bad cricket that spurred India’s defeat in the day-night Test.
“Both are bizarre experiences for two quality sides. If you asked England the same question (that would you be bowled out for 58), their answer will be no. You understand on that particular day things are bound to happen in a certain way. Things are out of your control and nothing seems to go right and that’s what exactly happened to us in Adelaide. Barring our 45 minutes of bad cricket we dominated the first Test against Australia,” said Kohli.
“We are confident about how we played the pink-ball Test even in Australia. These are experiences from which you learn it’s not something like a mental scar or anything as we did bounce back well in the Test series,” he added.
India achieved an emphatic 317-run win against England in the second Test of the ongoing four-match series to remain in contention of making into the final of the ICC World Test Championship. (ANI)
