Virat Kohli will continue his good form in Adelaide's Pink Ball Test only if...

Virat Kohli could continue his newly-found form and keep scoring big runs in Australia only if openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal see off the threat from the new ball again and give the former India captain and other batsmen a relatively easy time against the old Kookaburra.

India face Australia in the second of five Tests, a day-nighter at the Adelaide Oval, from Friday.

“The pink ball that will be used in the Test tends to come faster, seam and bounce more than the red ball due to the double colour coating,” says Paras Anand of Sanspareil Greenlands, the cricket equipment manufacturers and leading producer of cricket balls in India.

“The Kookaburra balls don’t have a pronounced seam like the SG balls, which is why there is less reverse swing later. It is therefore easier for the batsmen to score after the ball gets older.”

A hint of what Anand says could be seen in the first Test. Kohli, who had endured a poor run in the lead-up to the Tests in Australia, failing against both Bangladesh and New Zealand at home, scored his first century in 2024 in the second innings of the Perth Test.

His task was made easy by the fact that openers Jaiswal and Rahul had added 201 runs in 63 overs. When Kohli came into bat, the ball was not doing anything at all.

Rahul, who spoke to the media on Wednesday, said that he has been told about the position he will bat in the Test but is keeping it under wraps and not revealing it to the media. The right-hander had to open in the first Test only because Rohit Sharma was absent.

“I have been told but I have been asked not to reveal,” he told media.

It is likely that he will be asked to open again.  According to what www.thedelhijunction.com can surmise from the available information, there has been a debate within the team about batting positions.

Both Sharma and Shubman Gill will likely come in to replace Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel.

While Gill could straightaway walk into No. 3 in place of Padikkal, the question will be about the No. 5 slot. Rishabh Pant batted at No. 5 in the first Test with Jurel at No. 6.

However, Pant would likely move down to sixth and either Rohit Sharma or Rahul could come in at No. 5.

There has been, it is understood, also a discussion about shifting Gill to No. 5 so that he can have some easy time. Rohit, in that case, could come in at No. 3.

None of Rahul, Rohit, Gill or Jaiswal were part of the India team that was all out for 36 in the Adelaide Pink Ball Test during the last series, in 2020-21. Pant was also not part of the team. 

So the onus to provide platform and easy time to both Rohit and Kohli would be on Rahul and Jaiswal if the opening pair is continued. There should not be any reason except for injury to discontinue this pair.

Rahul said that he had been told to prepare to open in Australia prior to the series.

“I missed the last two Tests against New Zealand but I got told pretty early that there might a chance to open the batting. I got enough time to prepare and opening is something I have done for a long time. I had to go back and practice. I had enough practice time and had an India A game in Australia, lot of time in the middle,” said Rahul to media in Adelaide on Wednesday.

“[I am ready to play at] any spot. Just want to be in the playing XI. Earlier when I was asked to bat in different positions it was a challenge at least mentally, not so much technically, but mentally. How to play first 20-25 balls. How much can I attack. How much be cautious,” he added.

“[Now] I just go there and see what the team requires and what I need to do. It is the start that is important. Top of the order or middle order. At the start, if I can manage 30-40 balls then everything seems like it is regular batting.”

Rahul also talked about the challenge of opening the batting.

“The new ball does a lot in the first 20-25 overs. So you have to try and soak the pressure and get used to the pace and try to get used to whatever the pitch has to offer… if you do that, batting seems normal wherever you are in the world. Those are the things that you need to work on, playing it late, leaving the ball and making the bowlers come to you,” he added.

However, elsewhere, the ball continues to swing but the Kookaburra with less pronounced seam stops seaming and swinging completely after a point, especially 40 overs. In short, it is dead.

Rahul added that he has been practicing against the pink ball.

KL Rahul during the media interaction in Adelaide on Wednesday

“These few days have been to understand how the ball reacts, how easy and difficult it is to face the pink ball. All the games that have been played with the pink ball haven’t really lasted long so that tells you that there will be a lot of help for the fast bowlers and there will be seam movement,” he said.

“That is something we face in the nets and that happened in Perth too. The only difference would be to pick up the pink ball from the hand [of the bowler]. It isn’t as easy as it is facing against the white or the red ball so that is something we will have to get over. The ball seams a bit more than red ball. It hits harder and you can see [that] on the field. It seams around more than the red ball. That’s a challenge too. It is about picking the ball off the hand and that has been a bit tricky.”

Tags : Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Pink Ball Test, Adelaide, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill