BENGALURU: Sixteen wickets fell on the opening day of the pink-ball Test between India and Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
It is the most wickets on Day 1 of a day-night Test ever. The pitch began to take turns in the first hour of play, which made batting against spin quite difficult as the innings progressed on a sunny day.
Even India’s top scorer with 92 runs, Shreyas Iyer also termed the wicket to be challenging as it had variable bounce.
Some of the balls kept low, like the one, which caught Virat Kohli's plumb in front of the wicket.
The former captain could not believe the bounce as he stared down at the pitch for a long duration and walked back disappointed.
“On this wicket, whoever defended the ball, they were nicking. There was a variable bounce on the wicket. You can't play negatively on this wicket. Need to have that positive intent. The wicket was not that great and the mindset was to come up with a positive batting display,” said Iyer.
With the wicket being a challenging one, the man from Mumbai knew he had to do something different to make the bowlers think.
The batter came down the track a number of times, which spoiled the bowlers' line and length.
After completing his half-century, he celebrated as if it was a ton with both his hands aloft. His celebration showed how tough it was for players to bat in the middle.
The player had to bring all his domestic cricket experience to survive and score in the Garden City.
“Playing domestic cricket, Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, was really helpful and these kinds of wickets remind me of those. I followed that thought process that I would in the Ranji Trophy. I never thought I would get out. Of course, some balls were bouncing, keeping low, and turning. But my main focus was to cut down the spin.”
His innings helped India score 252/10 and Jasprit Bumrah’s three-wicket haul ensured India ended on a high as the visitors were reduced to 85/6 at stumps and trail by 167 runs.