By Debayan Mukherjee
Kolkata, Oct 29 (IANS) It is still unclear whether the second Test of the upcoming series between India and Bangladesh will be a day-night affair or not. But the way the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), led by Sourav Ganguly, is pushing for it, it is clear that sooner or later Virat Kohli and Co. will have to negotiate the pink ball under floodlights at home and away.
Since taking over as the BCCI president, Ganguly has been vocal about the need to play day-night test matches in India to attract crowds in the wake of empty stands being a regular feature whenever India play at home.
The BCCI last Sunday proposed the same to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) who are yet to respond.
The second Test will take place at the iconic Eden Gardens from November 22 and it is at the same venue that Ganguly had said few days back that skipper Virat Kohli is “agreeable” to the idea.
“We all are thinking about this. We will do something about this. I am a big believer of Day-Night Tests. Kohli is agreeable to it. I see a lot of reports in newspapers that he is not, but that is not true. The game needs to go forward and that is the way forward,” Ganguly said at his felicitation ceremony by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) last week.
Ganguly met Kohli for the first time since becoming BCCI President at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai last Thursday, and it is believed the former India skipper had a word regarding day-night tests.
Kohli has never been keen on playing day-night tests.India had previously dodged plans to play a pink-ball Test in Adelaide during their tour Down Under last year.
There was also reluctance on India’s part when a move to host a day-night Test against the West Indies at home was brushed under the carpet.
The Indian team management are of the opinion that the SG pink ball might not meet the required standards.
But Ganguly has always backed pink ball Tests, even when he was the head of the BCCI’s technical committee in 2016-17. Ganguly had then recommended that Duleep Trophy be played under lights. As BCCI president, the 47-year old has vowed to bring about change, and his insistence on India playing day-night tests will see the light of the day, one can assume.
“It is good if captain is agreeable like Dada said it is good to experiment. You will get to know if public will like it or not. It should be implemented,” former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin had said last week at the same event here.
–IANS
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