NEWS
Follow UsKL Rahul, who opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at Perth, said that he is clear about his batting position, but won't reveal that ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide, starting December 6. Rohit Sharma, India's skipper, is the regular opener, and after missing the first Test, he is now available for the second game.
"I've been told. But I've also been told not to share it. We'll have to wait for day one or maybe when the captain comes here tomorrow,” Rahul said on December 4 (Wednesday) after India’s training session at the Adelaide Oval.
It is going to be the first time that Rahul will be part of a pink-ball Test and he couldn’t have been more excited. “For me, it's exciting because it's my first pink-ball game. So I'm going in with a clean state. I'll go there and see what happens,” said the 32-year-old.
And what has he learned while practising with the pink cherry?
"[It] seems a bit harder than the red ball. While fielding as well, you can feel it hitting your hand a lot. A lot quicker and a lot harder. Same with batting. It just seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball. It does seam around a little bit more than the red ball [too],” added the Karnataka man, who wants to get back to his classy best in terms of batting.
Talking about his plans to counter the swing and seam of the pink ball, Rahul said, "If you look at all the games that have been played with the pink ball, it hasn't lasted a long time. So that tells you that there will be a lot of help for the fast bowlers. And there will be a lot of seam movement.
"It's just getting used to seeing the ball off someone's hand and if you can pick that, then you give yourself the best chance to react and be in good positions,” he added.
Rahul did play in the 50-over practice match against the Prime Minister’s XI but was retired hurt for 27 off 44 balls.
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