Felt it was the right time to bowl: Pujara on India's declaration

[Ulquiorra]

 

India reduced Bangladesh to 13/4 at one point after declaring. © AFP

At 4:58 PM on Day 2 at the Eden Gardens, Virat Kohli felt his team's lead of 241 runs was enough and called his batsmen back. The timestamp is significant because of what followed. The sun had set and light began to fade with floodlights already chipping in - part of the reason why Kohli decided to give his bowlers an early crack at the Bangladesh batsmen.

Ishant Sharma obliged, and rattled Bangladesh in more ways than one. He gobbled up both the left-handed openers - trapped Shadman Islam LBW with away movement after pitching on middle and captain Mominul Haque, who left his bat hanging at a full ball that moved away a touch.

A fired-up Ishant then bowled a nasty bouncer to Mohammad Mithun, that seamed in and struck him on the back of the helmet. Mithun was in the process of taking evasive action, but couldn't get out of the way completely on time. When the players went off for the tea break, Bangladesh were down to 7 for 2 in 5 overs, and staring at the ignominy of losing the Test in two days. Those five overs alone were indicative of a strategic declaration - to see how much the Indian bowlers can squeeze out of the worst period to bat in the Day-Night Test.

"I think that was the right time to bowl. The ball was swinging and we felt that if we start bowling at that time, we can pick up early wickets. And that is what happened as we got four early wickets. The ball was swinging, the dew wasn't there, dew started after tea time," Cheteshwar Pujara said after Day 2 where India walked off needing just four more wickets to add another 60 points to their WTC tally.

With cricket being a winter sport in India, dew was always going to be a hindrance to the concept of Day-Night Test, unlike how it is in countries like Australia. India had one day to observe how the conditions were playing before arriving at juncture where they made what initially appeared as an early call for declaration. It proved otherwise though as Pujara also admitted that the presence of light and a new colour of the ball had a role to play in batsmen struggling to spot short deliveries in particular. On Day 1, two short balls from Mohammed Shami around the same time ended Liton Das's Test immediately as he felt the effects of concussion while Nayeem Hassan - also hit flush on the helmet - had to be later replaced by the second concussion substitute of the fixture.

"I thought the light and the pink ball had a role to play [in batsmen getting hit]. Because as a batsman it is not easy to pick the ball, specially the short ball on the kind of pace our fast bowlers have. I think it is because of the pink ball and playing under lights. Their batters as far as I know haven't even played first class cricket with pink ball so it is not easy," Pujara said.

Interestingly, India's declaration also came after a brief successful burst for Bangladesh after they took the new ball. The decision to take the new ball coincided with the light starting to fade, and played right into Bangladesh's hands. With the floodlights turned on, the ball swung sharply, as India went from 304 for 5 in 80 overs to 347 for 9 in the 90th over when Kohli pulled the plug on the innings. He'd perhaps seen enough to let his bowlers loose.

There was no respite for Bangladesh batsmen after the Tea break either, as they went from 7 for 2 to 13 for 4. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim swooped in and carried out an efficient rescue operation to successfully take the game into the third day. Pujara reckoned batting in such a fixture has been tricky and easy only in patches - like the opening session and the last hour of the day, which contributed to an extent to the doggedness that Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah displayed.

"When you start the innings it is easier to bat and then there is twilight time when the ball starts doing a little more. Once the dew comes in, it becomes a bit easier to bat. So the first couple of hours are easier to bat and maybe the last hour is easier to bat," Pujara said.