Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday termed Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur Rahaman as “a threat” to the host side’s batsmen in the Test series beginning in Indore on Thursday. "He (Mustfafiz) is a very good bowler. He's going be a threat, a key player for Bangladesh. He's an experienced bowler. He knows the Indian batsmen as well, having played the IPL. So, it's a challenge but we must look forward to those challenges," Kohli said.
The Indian captain's remarks came despite a disappointing show by Mustafizur Rahman in the recent three-match T20 series which India won 2-1. Fizz gave a lot of runs without getting a wicket in all the three games. Kohli said the pink ball, which would be used in the second Test in Kolkata, swings more than the red one but it remains to be seen how it would behave after getting old, especially when dew will be a factor.
The pink ball Test is still a few days away but Kohli, on the eve of the series-opener, was busy answering questions related to the second Test starting November 22. "I think it's a new way to bring excitement to Test cricket. I played with the pink ball yesterday and I felt it swings a lot more than the red ball because there's extra lacquer (quote of paint) on the pink ball which doesn't go away too fast. And the seam holds upright quite a bit," the Indian captain said.
Kohli said they are yet to figure out how the old ball will behave during cold November evenings in Kolkata. "If the pitch has extra help for the bowlers, then they will be in the game, especially fast bowlers throughout the course of the Test match. I don't know how the old ball behaves because with the dew and the lacquer going off, it will be interesting to see how much the old ball does," Kohli said.
However he made it clear that for a pink ball to be effective, it is important to have lively tracks. The Indian team did not practice with the pink ball under lights but did take a few throw-downs on Tuesday to adjust to the colour of the new ball. “You require extra concentration to pick the pink ball suddenly when you're playing with the red ball,” Kohli said.
"It was to work on the reflexes a little bit as well. Because when you play with the red ball in the net and you arrive at the pink ball, it gets very difficult to pick, which can be the case in the game as well, " he explained.
