Pooja Vastrakar: Fun bowling under lights

Pooja looked a stronger, meaner bowler after returning from injuries. She took two of the four Australian wickets to fall on Saturday.

Pooja Vastrakar in action.

Leading up to the Australian tour, the Indian women’s team’s coach Ramesh Powar had talked about the support Jhulan Goswami needed from her fellow seamers.

He must have been pleased to watch the young duo of Pooja Vastrakar and Meghna Singh bowl with verve and discipline to put the famed Australian batting line-up onto the back foot on the penultimate day of the Day/Night Test at Carrara.

Pooja, who has looked a stronger, meaner bowler after returning from injuries took two of the four Australian wickets to fall on Saturday. She said she enjoyed bowling with the pink ball under the lights.

As it happened- 

“It was a great experience,” said the 22-year-old. “The pink ball, I found, moves initially but not as much as the red one once it gets older. So it was challenging, but it was fun bowling under lights.”

She said India would be trying to break the overnight partnership, between Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner for the fifth wicket. “We would want to make Australia follow on,” she said.

Earlier, Australian wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy said the Indian seamers bowled beautifully under lights. “They have a great seam attack,” she said. “They presented that seam and let the ball do the work for them.”