Kohli open to day-night Tests, but here's what he is concerned about

Kolkata is all pumped up to host India’s first day-night Test match on November 22 at the Eden Gardens. The 'City of Joy' has always been a sporting city and, true to its tradition, is not leaving any stones unturned for the historic occasion. Kolkata has been painted pink. The match is set to be watched by a bevy of dignitaries, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and former India and Bangladesh cricket stars.

The fans and players are equally curious about how the match will pan out. India made short work of Bangladesh in the first Test in Indore, winning inside three days. Both the teams have practised with the pink ball since then. Despite the gulf between the two sides, it is still an unknown territory for both.

So, it's not a surprise that India skipper Virat Kohli is wary about Test cricket's latest invention. He said day-night Tests are welcome but cannot be the only way to keep the format going. Despite agreeing within “three seconds” with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s proposal to play the Test against Bangladesh, Kohli believes that ultimately what will keep Test cricket going are close contests and exciting cricket.

“In my opinion, this (day-night Test) should not become the only way Test cricket is played because then you are losing that nervousness in the first session in the morning,” Kohli said. “Yes, you can bring excitement into Test cricket but you can't purely make Test cricket based on just entertaining people. You know, the entertainment of Test cricket lies in the fact that a batsman is trying to survive a session and a bowler is trying to get a batsman out, and if people don't respond to that, too bad. Whoever wants to respond to that will come and watch Test cricket. If I don't like Test cricket, you can't push me to like Test cricket.”

Kohli’s views are clearly in contrast to Ganguly’s views who believes that day-night cricket is the best way to bring people back to the Test matches.

Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata being decked up ahead of the India-Bangladesh Day-Night Test match beginning on November 22 | Salil Bera

Kohli, in fact, backed Rahul Dravid’s views that, more than anything else, a well-planned calendar of Test matches is essential to reignite the interest in the longer format of the game. “Yes, it is great to create a buzz around Test cricket. The first three-four days here (Eden Gardens) are sold out, which is amazing. But, I think Rahul bhai mentioned recently that if we have a Test calendar, where the series and the Tests are fixed then obviously it'll bring a lot more system and sync into people planning their calendars as well.

“It can't be random, saying you never know when a Test is going to arrive. If you have centres marked and you have Test calendars marked then, obviously, people will have an idea on how to plan to get to those Tests. People are not going to leave their work and come to a Test match if they don't know what's going on. They can plan in advance, like you plan everything in life. So, I think this (day-night Test) can be a one-off thing. It should not, in my opinion, become a regular thing.”

Speaking about the Indian team management's refusal to accept Cricket Australia’s proposal to play with the pink ball in the Adelaide Test in 2018, Kohli said that the team was not prepared for it. Kolkata Test, on the other hand, was “well-planned” he said. “Obviously, we wanted to get a feel of pink-ball cricket. Eventually, it had to happen. But, you can’t bring up those things before a big tour, and suddenly in the schedule there’s a pink-ball Test. We hadn’t even practised with the pink ball, we hadn’t played any first-class games with the pink ball.

“The thing was to experience the pink-ball Test in our own conditions first, to get the hang of how the ball behaves, what is the way to sight the ball and so on. Then, eventually, going and playing with the pink ball anywhere in the world. So, it can’t be a sudden thing. This one (the Kolkata Test), we had been talking about for a while. I think, any change needs to have that much time for it to sink in. And then we are open to do anything.”

Kohli’s words on being thrown in at the deep end with the pink ball in Australia could find resonance with his counterpart Mominul Haque whose team is yet to find answers to the marauding Indian bowlers. Bangladesh have been left with no option but to agree to India’s proposal for a pink-ball Test even though the entire team has absolutely zero experience of playing in a day-night Test with a pink ball.

The Bangladesh team practises with the pink ball ahead of the India-Bangladesh Day-Night Test match beginning on November 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata | Salil Bera

India have traditionally taken a cautious stand on any innovation introduced in the game, be it T20 format, DRS or the day-night Test.

Speaking about training with the pink ball, Kohli—world’s number 2 Test batsman—said that surviving the first session of the pink ball would be the key and a compact technique is essential. “I think, in general, if you haven’t played with the pink ball before, it’s going to be challenging throughout the game. It’ll require more concentration, more solid technique, and a more compact game compared to the red ball. Anyway, in the longer format, the ball does a lot more than the white ball. Lack of proper visibility or the ability to pick that colour, makes it even more difficult. So, as you can imagine, the decision-making will have to be very precise. Your idea of off-stump, I think, is going to be the most crucial thing.”

Kohli said fielding with the pink SG ball was a totally different experience. “One thing that surprised me was the fielding session. In the slips, the ball hits your hand so hard, it almost felt like a heavy hockey ball or those synthetic balls we have played with when we were younger. It really felt like that on the hand and it's definitely because of the extra glaze on the ball. It's definitely much harder, and it felt a little heavier. Even the throws took a lot more effort than the red ball to reach the keeper. And again, the dip perception was difficult when the ball went up in the air. So, I think during the day, high catches will be very difficult. We had to watch the balls straight into our palms more often than not.”