IND vs BAN | Took Virat Kohli three seconds to agree to Day-Night Test, says Sourav Ganguly
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has claimed that it took Virat Kohli no time to agree to Ganguly's proposal of playing a Day-Night Test match. India had previously declined playing a D/N test against Australia at Adelaide but now will play their first-ever pink-ball Test against Bangladesh.
With India's first pink-ball Test all set to begin on November 22 at the Eden Gardens, the buzz around the Test is increasing with each day passing. India had previously declined to play a D/N Test against Australia at Adelaide in their 2018 Tour and the reason given was lack of preparation. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly made it very clear that he did not force the idea of a pink-ball Test on the team and that the Indian Captain Virat Kohli took no time to agree to his proposal.
"I don't know what is the reason they did not want to play (Adelaide Day-Night Test). I met Virat on the 24th, met him for an hour and the first question was that we need to have D/N Test cricket. The answer in three seconds was yes let's go ahead and do it," Ganguly said at the launch of former international umpire Simon Taufel's book titled "Finding The Gaps" here.
"So I really don't know what's happened in the past. What is the reason and who was involved in the decision. But I found him absolutely acceptable to play D-N test matches. He realizes I think that empty stands in Test matches is not the right way forward," Ganguly further added.
Pink ball cricket being introduced will boost the chances of large crowds coming in especially in the evening session after their work and people who cannot access the stadiums would be able to enjoy live coverage through mobile or television. This will further increase the craze of Test Cricket that is seen diminishing with empty stands for Test matches. Ganguly makes this point of having more crowd to watch matches very clear by giving examples of the Boxing Day Test, Ashes, etc.
"When India went to Australia, my 100th Test match was a Boxing Day Test at MCG. There were 70,000 people watching the game. You should see the Ashes when Australia plays England, not one seat in empty. When India played Australia in 2001 at Eden Gardens, there were 1,50,000 people watching," said the former Indian captain.
"Now people's life has changed society has changed. You can't leave offices to watch Test matches so adaptability is most important. Most number of times, change is good. Sometimes when you are forced to change and come out of your comfort zone, it's better," he further added.
Ganguly hopes that this pink-ball revolution will bring in large crowds and he is positive about the chances of Test cricket being celebrated as the most important form of the game.
"Hopefully it's a start for India. It's the place to play the game in the world. With the fans' attention and love and with this I think Test cricket will be back on its feet," Ganguly concluded.
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