New Delhi:
India is set to play its first-ever Day-Night Test match at Eden Gardens against Bangladesh as newly appointed BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has convinced the BCB for the pink ball game, reported news agency PTI. The Test is scheduled to be held at the Eden Gardens from November 22-26 and will be the second game of a two-match series.
In a surprising move, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had sent a proposal to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to play their first-ever pink ball Test during the upcoming two-Test series. The BCCI had proposed that the second Test between India and Bangladesh at Eden Gardens to be the day-night Test. According to reports, the Bangladeshi players were against the idea and the BCB sat for multiple meetings to convince them.
The development ended days of speculation about India's debut with pink ball after Ganguly first proposed the idea to the Bangladesh Cricket Board. "It's a good development. Test cricket needs this push. Me and my team were bent on it and thanks to Virat (Kohli) also, he agreed," PTI quoted Ganguly as saying.
The Day-Night Test, played with a Pink Ball, came into realisation during the 2015 Test between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide. The success of the Test, with regards to attendances at the stadium and the television ratings, charted a new course for Test matches.
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After being elected as the BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly had said that during his tenure, he will be pushing for the day and night Test. Ganguly said that the current Indian team under Virat Kohli was capable of doing well in the pink-ball Test format.
"I must say that Virat Kohli is agreeable to it. There are reports that he does not want to play day-night Tests which is not the fact. So once the captain of India is agreeable to it, life becomes a lot easier. We will see how we can push it. The game needs to go forward. We all are thinking about this and we will do something about it. I am a firm believer in Day Night Tests. I don't know when that will happen. But till the time I am around, I will be pushing for it," Ganguly said.
Bangladeshi team is scheduled to tour India for three T20 Internationals and two Tests, starting November 3. While the first Test will be played in Indore, Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the second.
