The second Test cricket match of the series to be played between India and Bangladesh from 22 to 26 November will be Day-Night. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly gave this information, putting an end to the speculation about this test. Thus, it has now been decided that Kolkata’s Eden Gardens Stadium will witness India’s first day-night test. Along with this, Virat Kohli will be the first Test captain of India to play a day-night test match.
Ganguly proposed to play the Test with a pink ball before the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Although the Bangladesh players were not ready for this at first, they agreed to play the day-night test after several rounds of meetings with the board. Ganguly said that this is a good initiative. Test cricket needs to be promoted. I and my team have worked hard for this. We would also like to thank Virat Kohli for getting ready for this.
Olympians to be honored : During this Test match, there are plans to invite veteran Olympic medalists like Abhinav Bindra, MC Mary Kom and PV Sindhu to honor them. All of them will be invited for the Test match.
Every year should be a day-night test : Ganguly wants the annual ‘pink test’ (day-night) test match to be held in Australia in the same way that day-night test matches are held annually in Eden Gardens. Indian cricketers have long avoided playing day-night Test matches, but Ganguly said on Friday that captain Kohli agrees with the idea of playing the day-night test and it could be held in the near future.
Bangladesh coach worried : Bangladesh South African coach Russell Domingo was worried about how the match would take place, but the team accepted the change and agreed to do something new. The match will start at 2 pm and there will be a tea break and dinner break in between the matches. Domingo said that we think this is a big opportunity. I don’t think India have played the Test with pink ball before now. It will be a big day at the Eden Gardens against the biggest team in the world. He further said that we are ready for this challenge. We have challenges because we do not have much time to prepare, but the situation is similar for India. In such a situation, the challenges are going to be equal for both teams. The pink ball is contested, so both teams will not be less than anyone. This change is good.
It was Ganguly who made the pink ball a day-night match in India for the first time. It was Bengal Cricket Association’s final match of the Super League played between Mohun Bagan and Bhawanipur, which was played in Flood Light in June 2016. Muhammad Shami and Wriddhiman Saha played in that match. Both players are expected to play in this day-night test.
When the Duleep Trophy was played with pink ball : It was only in 2016 that the BCCI got the Duleep Trophy with the pink ball for the first time. It was played with pink ball for three seasons, but the board did not make it a day-night this year due to broadcast coverage. Mayank Agarwal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma are the players in the current Test team who have experience of playing with the pink ball in the Duleep Trophy. During this time, spinners in particular had expressed concern over the dew factor, due to which they had nothing left to do.
Ganguly, however, assured that there would be no problem due to the circumstances. Ganguly said that we will solve this problem and there will be no dew problem here. We also use dew spray in day-night ODI.
Sheikh Hasina will be present : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be present on the first day of Kolkata Test. Also, many veterans of India will be present here for this match. Ganguly said that this is my business. I am here because I have played this game for a long time, so I think it is a worthwhile step for Test cricket and hopefully it will also bring spectators to the ground.
History of only 11 Day-Night Tests : Only 11 Day-Night Test matches have been played at international level so far. The first Test was played in 2015 between Australia and New Zealand. The last day-night test was played in Brisbane between Australia and Sri Lanka in January this year. An attempt was made to convince the Indian team for the day-night test on the tour of Australia last year, but the Indian team then refused to accept it. The Indian team believed that when the ball becomes old in the flood light, it is difficult to see it.