File photo of Sachin Tendulkar.
The legendary retired cricketer says that batsmen need to be extremely aware of the clock and switch on and off aggression while respecting the conditions.
Pink Ball Test matches are still a puzzle for international cricketers with the limited number of day/night Test matches played so far.
India’s historical pink-ball Test match, ongoing at the Adelaide Oval from Thursday onwards, has created a lot of buzz with an even battle between the bat and the ball.
And legendary Sachin Tendulkar suggested that from what he has seen so far in day/night affairs of the longer format, batsmen need to be cautious and switch on and off aggression as per the session they are playing in.
“Whatever I have seen with the pink-ball Tests, you have to be extremely aware of the clock. Whenever the sun is going down and the temperature drops and before dew sets in and the grass is nice and cool, there is going to be a little extra lateral movement of the surface. That is when you don’t just respect the bowler but you also respect the conditions,” Tendulkar said while speaking on Sport in Kolkata.
The 47-year-old retired cricketer felt that batsmen will have their chance to score runs early in the first session or late in the last session when the dew factor will wet the ball.
“Here in a pink-ball Test, your first session could well be the one where you cash in where you take a little more chances and play more aggressively. Maybe in Australia, the sun goes down later than what it did in Kolkata. In Kolkata, I felt from 4:30 to 6:30 was a critical time where the batsmen had to respect not just the bowler but also the surface and build those partnerships. And once the ball gets wet, you can start playing a little more shots,” he said.
Sachin revealed that he met Kohli at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2019 during the one-off day/night Test against Bangladesh and advised him and team management to declare late in the innings instead of going for some extra runs.
“Maybe towards the end of the 2nd session and the beginning of the last session might be the phase where the ball does a little bit extra where you need to hold back your aggression and natural instincts and be a little more disciplined.
Also when I met the team in Kolkata and spoke to the team management and obviously there was Virat, if there are 2 wickets, don’t look to score those 20 runs extra. You’re better off declaring at that time and getting their top 3 batters. You might be short by 20 runs but you would have possibly saved 120 runs there,” he signed off.
