Twilight hours to be tough for batsmen in day-night Test: Vettori

Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach Daniel Vettori believes the evening hours of the first-ever day-night Kolkata Tests might shake up Bangladesh, reports UNB.

The Bangladesh team reached Kolkata on Tuesday and they conducted their first practice session at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday morning.

“The last session with the pink-ball will be very difficult because things can do something different in the twilight hours,” said Vettori, former spin-bowling star of New Zealand, while talking to the media at the match venue after the day’s practice session.

There was only a day-night four-day match in Bangladesh, and that was played in 2013. None of Bangladesh’s current players has played in that game. On the other hand, most of the players of India have the experiences of playing day-night first-class games.

“The twilight hour time matters when the pink ball can come to the play. My experience is only from watching on TV. I think the evening hours will be tough in this Test. At the same time, the sun sets early in Kolkata, maybe at 4:30pm. It can make things really tough for the batsmen,” Vettori added.

Despite being the spin bowling consultant, Vettori does not think that the spinners can pose a big challenge in Kolkata. He rather believes the seam bowlers might provide the main challenge to the opponents.

“Will the spinners make a good impact? I think the previous Tests gave the answer. If I recall rightly, spin hasn’t come to the play as much. It has been about the pace-bowlers in the previous pink-ball Tests. But yes, during the first two sessions, spinners can really be important,” Vettori told the media.

“It is a nice thing that the four pacers of Bangladesh are excited about the pink-ball Test. Bangladeshi fast bowlers don’t get the opportunity much to be excited. I think they are coming to grips with a slightly different ball- it is SG ball. There is real optimism,” he added.

In the first practice session ahead of the Kolkata Test, Bangladesh did not get the opportunity to practise under the dark with the lights on. But they will get the chance on Thursday, just before a day of the Test. Vettori believes it should be enough for the Tigers before going to the main business.

“It’s good that we’ll have a practice session under the light tomorrow (21 November). The evening is the time when the pink ball comes to play well,” Vettori also told the media.

Before leading to this historic Test, neither Bangladesh nor India have played a day-night Test before. So, the interest of the spectators is high in Kolkata.

Vettori believes there will be a lot of people in the Test to witness the first-ever day-night of the subcontinent.