BCB give its nod as Kolkata set to host Indiaâs first Day-Night Test against Bangladesh
Bangladesh have accepted BCCIâs proposal to play a Day-Night Test in the upcoming series against India and it is confirmed that Eden Gardens in Kolkata will be the host. Earlier, Sourav Ganguly had claimed that he is confident of the Bangladesh Cricket Board agreeing to the said proposal.
Immediately after joining office, BCCI president Ganguly made his intentions clear with regards to Day-Night Test matches. He expressed his eagerness to host a Day-Night fixture in the upcoming tour against Bangladesh itself. Earlier, on Monday, Ganguly had revealed about his discussion with the BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chaudhary about BCCI's proposal to play the 2nd Test to be hosted in Kolkata with the pink-ball.Â
Before approving the proposal, the BCB wanted their playersâ and team managementâs approval as well and now it is confirmed that the Bangladesh team will be playing a Day-Night Test at the Eden Gardens. India and Bangladesh, apart from two new Test-playing nations, Ireland and Afghanistan, are yet to play a pink-ball Test. While India's opposing tendency had a part to play in it, the logistical challenges can not be ignored too as SG failed to make a proper Pink ball for the Duleep Trophy that was played under lights.
However, that has also put SG under a spot. In a rather fast move, BCCI asked BCB to turn the second India-Bangladesh Test at the Eden Gardens a D/N affair, but arranging quality pink balls that will work in Indian conditions is a huge logistical concern for now. The board started with SG balls and subsequently tried out the Dukes ball in the Duleep Trophy but none of the experiments had been successful.Â
"As the coach and some of the players and all the other senior players, we think that it's a great opportunity. I don't think India have played a pink-ball Test before. We haven't played a pink-ball Test. It's a massive occasion at the Eden Gardens," Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo was quoted as saying on Tuesday (October 29).
"It will be a new experience for both the teams. So we are very excited about it. It will be a great occasion under the lights against one of the best team in the world, probably the best team in the world also. So we are really looking forward to the challenge."
Bangladesh will start their India tour with the three T20Is, starting on November 3, before kicking off their World Test Championship campaign from November 14 in Indore. The timings of the second Test in Eden Gardens will now be tweaked for a slightly late start in order to play the final session under lights.