Jasprit Bumrah: The pink ball comes faster at you

India vice-captain Bumrah confirmed that Kuldeep Yadav has not been dropped, but released temporarily so that he could spend time with family after a long time in the bio-bubble.

India's head coach Rahul Dravid with Jasprit Bumrah, during the training session, ahead of India VS Sri Lanka day and night test cricket match, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (KSCA), in Bengaluru on March 10, 2022.

India vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah spoke about adjusting to how quickly the pink ball travelled and getting used to its feel on the eve of India's day-night Test against Sri Lanka, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

"The pink ball looks different. It comes faster at you. Then there's the movement. A red ball swings in the morning but maybe, the pink ball won't swing much in the afternoon but start jagging around at night," Bumrah said on Friday.

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"We are playing a pink-ball Test after a long time. So, we have to make the mental adjustments - catching the pink ball, batting against it and playing Test cricket under lights. We just try and adjust to it quickly. We've addressed these things in the team meeting and tried to replicate that in the nets."

At the optional practice session on Friday, the Indian players, especially Shreyas Iyer, were put through rigorous catching drills. Iyer practised taking flat catches in the deep, close-in catches and high catches at the boundary. He was seen suggesting that the dip perception was very difficult when the pink ball went up in the air.

Meanwhile, asked about the specifics of the adjustments for the pink-ball Test, Bumrah said, "We have not played many pink ball matches and whatever we have played, they were all in different conditions, so no parameter can be set (on adjustments required). So whatever little experience we have gathered and the feedback we have taken, we are trying to work on those things," the fast bowler added.

'Not dropped'

Bumrah remained non-commital about the makeup of India's playing XI but weighed in on Kuldeep Yadav's release. Kuldeep, who did not feature in the first Test, was replaced by left-arm orthodox spinner Axar Patel for the second Test.

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"Kuldeep wasn't dropped. He has spent a considerable amount of time inside the bio-bubble. With two months of IPL bubble ahead of us and the odds of him playing this Test being rather low, we wanted him to spend some time with his family. See, every player wants to feature in every match. But given the circumstances, we also have to look at their mental wellbeing. The decision to release Kuldeep was made purely on that count."