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Tough to pick pink ball seam at twilight: Mithun


Bangladeshpost
Published : 02 Dec 2019 06:43 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 04:58 PM

Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Mithun, who batted despite copping a blow to the head in the second innings of the historical Test, faced Indian pacers with the pink-ball in the twilight hours. Although, Mithun believes that his blow to the head from Ishant Sharma was more of a case of his lack of reflexes more than anything else, he added that it was a learning experience for him.

"I saw the ball pitching and in which line it pitched. After pitching, when the ball landed, then the ball was cutting inside. And it was difficult for any batsman to judge," Mithun told Cricbuzz. "Because you can (only) leave bouncer after watching the pitch of the ball and I did not go to play because I was going to leave that ball but when the ball took the movement to inside, then I became totally blind and I had no reflexes," he said. "You either play pull shot or leave against short balls. When a short ball moves after landing then I think it's not so easy for any batsmen to wait till the end to watch and leave the ball. Maybe I am not that good a batsman because some top batsmen can move the head away even from that point of time. But it [Test series] was a good learning experience for me," he said.

Participating in their first-ever pink-ball Test, there were bound to be challenges that the sides would only learn about as the game went by. One of those were spotting of the seam during twilight hours, which according to the batsman is the most difficult job in day-night Tests. "I think the most difficult part about the pink ball is picking up the seam. We did not have any experience with the pink ball. Practice and match are totally different. We practiced two-three days, but when we practiced with the pink ball, I was asked about the 

difference and I could not describe then but when we started playing then we understood how big the difference was.

"Like with red ball you can pick up the seam early and make adjustment knowing in which direction it is going but with a pink ball that is not the case and more so during the twilight hour. At that point of time [during the twilight hour] pink ball swings more and pace also increases substantially even when the weather is damp and you just can't pick the seam. It seems the pace is more than the normal days and it also skids," he said, adding that he was even well aware of the pace due to the fact he kept wickets during the Test after Liton Das was ruled out for a concussion.