Pink ball won't do much in the 3rd Test in Ahmedabad: Dinesh Karthik (Exclusive)

India will embark towards the 3rd Test against England with the horrors of their last pink ball Test still fresh in their minds. In Adelaide, the pink ball did a bit too much for Australian bowlers as they shot the visitors down to their lowest-ever innings total: 36-9.

However, recently crowned champion of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Dinesh Karthik, believes the pink ball won't pose any such problems for the batsmen in the new Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's Indranil Basu, Dinesh Karthik remarked that the 3rd Test will be quite an "unusual" affair because of the excessive dew.

"This is going to be a very unusual Test match because when we played in Ahmedabad, which we just did in the new ground, there was a lot of dew. So once that kind of dew sets in I don't think there will be any kind of movement from the seam and it will be pretty easy for batting. Towards the second half of the day, it will get much easier for batting. When the ball is new, obviously it swings and the pink ball swings a little bit more than the normal Kookaburra ball so it will be a little more challenging for the batsmen. But post 6:30, 7 pm when dew comes in it will be a lot easier to bat on."

The 3rd Test will be played between February 24 and 29 and the proceedings will commence at 2:30 pm.

Who are India's top performers in pink ball Tests?

The pink Test ball

India have been part of just two day/night Tests - against Bangladesh in 2019 and Australia in 2020. Skipper Virat Kohli is the top performer among the batsmen against the pink ball. He has scored 214 runs from the two games, including a ton and a half-century.

Incidentally, Kohli's last Test hundred (136) came during a home affair against Bangladesh. He looked even more comfortable for his 74 against Australia in Adelaide, but was famously run-out while batting alongside Ajinkya Rahane.

Only Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami have featured in both of India's pink ball Tests. Yadav is the highest wicket-taker with 11 snares, closely followed by Ishant Sharma's 9. Both Yadav and Sharma have five-wicket hauls, each with the pink cherry.