ADELAIDE, Dec 15: India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday conceded that pacer Ishant Sharma’s absence is a “big miss” but side-stepped queries on his team’s possible first XI combination for the opening Day/Night Test against Australia starting here on Thursday.
Rahane, who is expected to lead in the last three Tests after regular skipper Virat Kohli goes on paternity leave, also spoke about how pink ball’s increased pace off the pitch during the 40-50 minutes of the twilight session, will be the biggest challenge for any batsman.
“I think, we do really have a strong attack but yes we will definitely miss Ishant, being the senior fast bowler,” Rahane said during a virtual press conference. Ishant is recovering from a rib injury sustained during the IPL.
Rahane, however, is confident that despite Ishant’s absence, the pace attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will step it up for the Australians.
On the possible opening combination among the four available options (Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul) and two options for wicketkeeping (Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant), Rahane said a decision will be taken on the eve of the match.
He also didn’t give any definitive answer on what would be senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s role although he did acknowledge that his all-round skills will be very handy going into the first Test.
Twilight period in pink ball Test matches is very important and that has been well documented. What Rahane added to the theory on the day was increase in speed off the pitch during a period of 40 to 50 minutes, which is not the case for normal red balls.
“I feel in the day, the new pink ball slightly moves, but then after that it becomes easy to bat…when the twilight period comes, for 40-50 minutes, that becomes a bit challenging for the batsmen to focus,” he said.
A chance to practice for a month and play two first-class games has been the best preparation ahead of the big ticket series, he said. (PTI)
