Sachin Tendulkar educates Team India on how to approach pink-ball Test vs Australia

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar gave Team India a piece of advice ahead of the much-anticipated pink-ball test against Australia, encouraging the hosts to be mindful of the clock and bat accordingly. India will launch the much-anticipated 4-Test series with a day-night fixture at the Adelaide Oval on December 17.

Sachin Tendulkar urged India to think out of the box when it comes to batting in the day-night Test. Tendulkar said, from his observations about the pink-ball Test, teams should look to play more shots in the first session, contrary to the traditional approach of seeing the new balls.

Tendulkar said it’s important to be more articulate in the first session as beating becomes difficult during the twilight time when the pink ball appears to deliver extravagant movement for pace bowlers. In the past, teams have declared during the twilight period and checked the top-ranking opposition, and Tendulkar suggests that India should follow that path if the opportunity emerges.

India is going to the pink-ball test, having played just one day-night fixture—-against Bangladesh in two.

Whatever I have seen with the pink-ball Tests, you have to be extremely aware of the clock. Whenever the sun is going down and the temperature drops and before dew sets in and the grass is nice and cool, there is going to be a little extra lateral movement of the surface. That is when you don’t just respect the bowler but you also respect the conditions,” Tendulkar said.

“Here in a pink-ball test, the first session could well be the one where you cash in when you take a few more risks and play more confidently. Maybe in Australia, the sun goes down later than it did in Kolkata. In Kolkata, I found that from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. it was a crucial moment where the batsmen had to value not only the bowler but even the pitch and build those partnerships.

“Maybe towards the end of the 2nd session and the beginning of the last session might be the phase where the ball does a little bit extra where you need to hold back your aggression and natural instincts and be a little more disciplined.

“Also when I met the team in Kolkata and spoke to the team management and obviously there was Virat, if there are 2 wickets, don’t look to score those 20 runs extra. You’re better off declaring at that time and getting their top 3 batters. You might be short by 20 runs but you would have possibly saved 120 runs there.”