KL Rahul. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: Senior Indian batsman KL Rahul is preparing for his first Day/Night Test match and has discovered that the pink Kookaburra is faster, hits the hands harder when fielding, and is difficult to pick from the bowler’s hand.
Rahul, who excelled in India’s 295-run Test triumph with a second innings knock of 77 runs, is eager to learn as much as he can from the nets in the hopes of continuing to perform well Down Under.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
“Ball seems a bit more harder than the red ball and while fielding also, you can feel the ball hits your hands a lot quicker and harder,” said the veteran of 54 Tests and 3000-plus runs ahead of the Day/Night Test in Adelaide starting Friday.
“Same with batting, it seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball and does seam around a bit more than the red ball.
“That’s the challenge we are looking forward to. Since this is my first Pink ball game I am going in with a clean slate, go there and see what comes my way.”

The bright pink ball is a little difficult to pick from a bowler’s hands, according to some conversation in the dressing room.
“If you look at pink ball, it tells you that it hasn’t lasted a long time and there will be lot of help for the fast bowlers and that we had in Perth on day one also, lot of seam movement,” he observed.
Rahul had a straight answer when asked what is the best way to play pink ball.
“Whatever players prefer. Picking ball from hand is tricky for some of the boys. Getting used to seeing the ball from someone’s hand is step one for a batter. And then you give yourself the best chance to react and be in good positions. That’s what batters have been speaking about,” he gave his insight.
Rahul has been talking to players who have participated in India’s four pink ball matches, including three at home and one in Adelaide in 2021, like as Virat Kohli.
“I don’t have much game experience like some of the others who played so far. I am speaking to the guys to try and understand what were the things they found hard and if there were any changes. “
Even though Australia has never lost a pink ball Test at home, there is no doubting that the victory in Perth has increased India’s confidence.
“We have taken a lot of confidence. The pink ball is different and take confidence from that game,” he said
“When you do well away from home in pacer-friendly conditions, you do get a lot of confidence, you do know what to do and you try and repeat those processes again and again,” he said.
He also mentioned a brief discussion in the dressing room regarding the strategy that the team would use.
“One thing that has been spoken a lot in dressing room is about winning sessions and not really worry about winning the whole game. Talking about day 4 and 5, it is about winning each session and do that again and see where we go,” he concluded.