The City of Joy has its own set of sports lovers and given that a full house is on the way, things couldn’t get better than this. A total of 65,000 tickets have been sold for each of the first three days. One expects the talks at tea stalls or dinner tables in Kolkata would be probably on the game. The atmosphere is electric and there is a lot of positivity all around.
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Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has left no stone unturned to make the Day-Night Test match a special one for Indian and Bangladeshi fans, who will be coming to witness the match. The BCCI had earlier released a 17-second clip on Twitter in which the Eden can be seen lit up in the pink colour, inside and out.
“Kolkata gearing up for the #PinkBallTest,” BCCI captioned the post.
Kolkata gearing up for the #PinkBallTest 😊😊#TeamIndia #INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/16p66AvHTn
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 20, 2019
India has a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. They had earlier beaten Bangladesh by an innings and 130 runs at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. This is the 12th Day-Night Test to be played in the history of the sport.
Here are the timings of the Day-Night Test match
Generally, a Day-Night Test is supposed to start at 2:00 PM. But at the Eden Gardens, play will start at 1.00 PM IST and end by 8.00 PM to counter the dew factor. One mainly sees D/N Tests being played in summer, however, here the match is being held at the start of the winter season.
So with the timings rehashed, the first session will come to an end at 3:00 PM IST. After a 40-minute break, the second session will resume at 3:40 PM. Meanwhile, the second interval will be at 5.40 PM. After a 20-minute break, the final session will start at 6:00 PM.
What’s the scene with Army paratroopers and SG pink balls?
The Test match will see the introduction of the SG pink balls which will be making its debut in the second Test between the two teams. As per reports, the BCCI had earlier ordered 72 pink balls for the Test match. Both teams were seen practising with pink balls over the last few days. It remains to be seen how SG balls shape up.
Interestingly, Army paratroopers will fly into the Eden Gardens in order to hand over a pink ball each to captains of both the sides Virat Kohli and Mominul Haque. This special moment will be witnessed before the toss.
Meanwhile, Pinku and Tinku have been revealed as the official mascots.
Day-Night Test: Kolkata turns pink
Can’t get better then this @bcci @cab pic.twitter.com/RQEI66Thw6
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) November 20, 2019
The most interesting fact is the presence of a giant pink balloon which has been positioned near the Eden Gardens stadium. This will be there till the end of the Test match.
Besides the balloon, the Shahid Minar and some Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) parks are set to be illuminated with pink lights as well. This is to light up the city after evening and bring more flavour and colour.
To add to these things, the Tata Steel building has a 3D Mapping that was started from November 20. Also, in order to spread awareness of the Test match, a dozen billboards across the city, six LED boards and branded buses will also be seen. This will add to the dazzle post evening.
Performances and presence of celebrities
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly provided some updates on what to expect during the Test match.
“Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble everyone will be there. In tea time, there will be carts going around the stadium with former captains in them,” the former Indian captain said.
“There is a musical performance at tea time and at the end of the day, there is a felicitation. Both the teams, former captains, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Chief Minister will be there. Runa Laila will be performing, Jeet Ganguly will be performing.”
MS Dhoni Could Be Guest Commentator
Now the biggest of all the updates is the presence of former Indian skipper MS Dhoni at the Eden. Earlier this month, a report in IANS had claimed that Dhoni will be seen in the commentary box on the opening day of the Day-Night Test match. The plan was proposed by official broadcaster Star Sports to the BCCI.
Besides that, all former captains of the Indian cricket team are to be invited for the first two days of the Day-Night Test match and will be asked to share their favourite moments from India’s Test history.
The plan is also set to get bigger with Star Sports wanting to make the first pink-ball Test a carnival. At lunch on the third day, India’s greatest win at Eden Gardens against Australia in 2001 is in line to be celebrated.
And lastly, the host broadcasters are also planning to telecast the training session of Team India with the pink ball on the eve of the game. This will be a first in the history of Indian cricket.