I'm going in with a clean slate – KL Rahul ahead of Adelaide pink-ball Test

As India gear up for the Adelaide Test, they will need a strong batting unit to try and push back the mighty Australian bowlers. With that being said, the visitors will have a major boost with the return of Rohit Sharma to the team while Shubman Gill’s performance in the practice Test provides a positive outlook to his return.

KL Rahul who was in brilliant touch in the first Test, will continue to be a major element of India’s batting unit and in the pre-match press conference ahead of India’s all-important pink-ball clash against Australia, the opener spoke on the dynamics of the pink-ball and the challenges that surround it.

Explaining the pink-ball, KL Rahul said, “[It] seems a bit harder than the red ball. While fielding as well, you can feel it hitting your hand a lot. A lot quicker and a lot harder. Same with batting. It just seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball.”

He further added, “It does seam around a little bit more than the red ball [too]. So that's the challenge we're looking forward to. For me it's exciting because it's my first pink-ball game. So I'm going in with a clean state. I'll go there and see what really happens. And try and face up to whatever comes my way.”

Stating more, Rahul said, “These few days have only been about understanding how the ball reacts. And how easy or hard it is to play against the pink ball. If you look at all the games that have been played with the pink ball, it hasn't really lasted a long time.”

He continued, “So that tells you that there will be a lot of help for the fast bowlers. And there will be a lot of seam movement. That's something that we faced even in the nets. But that happened even in Perth on day one. There was a lot of seam movement. And I'm sure that will be the same [in Adelaide]."

Rahul concluded by saying, “It's just getting used to seeing the ball off someone's hand and just getting used to that. And I feel like that's step one of a batter. If you can pick that, then you give yourself the best chance to react and be in good positions. So yeah, that's been something that all batters have been speaking about and trying to play a lot more balls so that you get used to it."