India vs Sri Lanka: Shreyas Iyer lights up Bengaluru as pink ball wreaks havoc on day one – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

13 wickets on day one and 17 wickets on day two – that was the story of India’s third Test against England in Ahmedabad in February 2021. 13 and 15 wickets fell on days one and two respectively at Kolkata during India versus Bangladesh back in 2019. The common thread between these two Tests is a pink ball.

On Saturday, then, as India hosted its third-ever pink-ball Test in Bengaluru, 16 wickets fell on day one. It was the highest-ever for any pink-ball Test across the world, ever. No pink-ball Test in India has lasted longer than two and a half days, and there is every chance this Bengaluru Test will go in the same direction.

So, let us start with the most obvious question: what is really happening here?

The Kolkata Test in 2019 followed the script of any pink-ball Test played previously. The Eden Gardens’ pitch was green, moisture-laden and the Indian seamers made merry. They picked all 19 wickets on offer as India brushed Bangladesh aside. Since then, the script seems to have gone a bit topsy-turvy.

Shreyas Iyer slammed an attacking 92 on a pitch that proved to be a landmine for batters. Photo by Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for BCCI

Faced with England at home in 2021, and the need to win the series to qualify for the World Test Championship final, a rank turner was laid out at Ahmedabad. Ishant Sharma took only one wicket (which is surprising, looking back now) as the Indian spinners swept up 19 wickets. What marked this differentiation from Kolkata to Ahmedabad?

The pink SG ball has a very pronounced black seam. Combined with the different lacquer and ball production techniques impacting the leather, the pink ball simply skids on that much more on a turning wicket. It is a facet that was unknown even to the Indian spinners last year, and certainly to the English camp, who played three fast bowlers on that Ahmedabad pitch expecting the pink ball to behave “naturally”.

This very same facet has carried on over from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, wherein Indian batters found the going tough against Sri Lankan spinners before dusk. In the evening session, the Bengaluru wicket provided better assistance to pacers (something England would have liked in Ahmedabad, but alas). It explains why Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami made Lankan batters hop, skip and dance, when the spinners were expected to do so.

To a degree, it explains why 16 wickets fell on day one at Bengaluru. What cannot be explained is the need for such a turning track, one with variable bounce on day one itself? This isn’t Australia or New Zealand or even England that India is playing at home. This is Sri Lanka, and with all due respect, there is a chasm in quality between the two sides with both bat and ball. India is expected to win, whether on day four or five. So, again, what was the need for such a wicket that accelerates the proceedings in this Test match?

The most obvious negative impact is on the fans. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, India hosted a cricket match with 100 per cent crowd allowed. And this is Bengaluru, one of the traditional Test venues in the country, not to mention Virat Kohli’s adopted home ground. Those who bought tickets for day three onwards might as well not bother turning up. And let us not even talk about the broadcast costs, or revenues lost therein.

If at all there is a positive impact, then it is the differentiation in the definition of pink-ball Test cricket in India. Unless the match is hosted at Kolkata or Dharamsala, you can simply put spin over pace. It means that pink ball cricket provides a different element, wherein the skidding and turning ball terrorizes even the home batters. It brings the likes of Australia and England into contention and also narrows down the gap between India and Sri Lanka. But for Shreyas Iyer, that latter facet played out fully on day one.

Let it be said here that India was in deep trouble at 126-5. Until that point, the Indian innings was a mixed bag. While Mayank Agarwal’s run-out was down to poor decision making, the dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari were down to the spinning wicket. It showed how the Lankan spinners had bridged the gap on this helpful surface. Then, there was Virat Kohli’s unlucky dismissal – you just cannot do anything when the ball keeps so low. And Rishabh Pant’s dismissal was again live-by-the-sword-die-by-it.

In a way, all these dismissals prepared Iyer for the knock he played. The top-order struggles showed that just staying put on this wicket was worthless. Sooner or later, one delivery would get you. And hence, Iyer copied Pant’s template for much of his innings. Even so, there was more method to his madness.

At one stage, Iyer was batting on 37 off 51 deliveries. Until then, it was survival mixed with the odd shot, not wasting any scoring opportunities. In that Iyer is an exceptional player of spin – digging deep, using the depth (and width) of his crease, as he was able to manoeuvre the Lankan spin. It is a batting quality that sets him apart from the man he has replaced, Ajinka Rahane, whose struggles against spin are only well known.

Youthful aggression is the other facet in Iyer’s batting at present. Stretching the prior comparison a tad, and it reminds of Rahane’s batting bluster during the 2014 overseas cycle. Rahane’s counter-attacking mannerism in Wellington, Lord’s and Melbourne was a straight leaf out of the Mumbai cricket textbook, and it reflected amply in the second half of Iyer’s innings.

As soon as Ravichandran Ashwin was dismissed, Iyer changed gears. Playing spin is second nature to him, and hitting sixes-at-will is an art form he copies from Rohit Sharma’s playbook. Smacking four sixes, Iyer raced to the nineties, wherein a little more patience would have rewarded him with a second Test hundred. “I wasn’t thinking about it. I played as per the ball and today was not my day,” he said at the end of the day’s play.

This is youthful chutzpah at the fore, once again. Iyer has confidence surging through his veins at the moment, and he is looking to seize every chance possible when at the crease. When trying to make a mark, newly minted Test batters often tend to forget that these milestones matter when form disappears. Then, a hundred scored is more memorable and counts for more than a fighting ninety. It can be the difference between retaining your spot and fading from memory.

In this case, Iyer’s 92-off-98 against the pink ball on a raging Bengaluru turner won’t be forgotten any time soon. Rest assured, it will also take India to victory, sooner than later.

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