INDORE: There was a sight at the end of the day’s play in the first Test that nobody was prepared for. As Mayank Agarwal came to address the media, some of his teammates went to the ground to practise with a pink ball under lights. It went on for a little over half-an-hour.
Since arriving in Indore, the Indians have practised with the pink ball whenever possible, as they remain alien to the concept of playing day-night Tests. With no warm-up matches, they are trying to make do with whatever they can. Around 5 pm, out came Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav. Support staff gave them throwdowns.
Even though there is a strong possibility of the match getting over before the fifth day, India have decided against releasing players. This means there will be no brief visit home, which is sometimes the practice when matches finish early.
The management has decided to have training sessions under lights on Sunday and Monday, if the Test gets over early.
Paratroopers at Eden
Army paratroopers will fly into Eden Gardens to hand over a pink ball each to the captains before the toss of the day-night Test. “All sellable tickets were already sold out online. We are currently left with a limited number of quota tickets. It is to be seen if they are taken,” said Cricket Association of Bengal secretary Avishek Dalmiya.