Debasis Sen: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly on Sunday revealed hosting the first ever Day Night Test match at Eden Gardens is a lot more challenging than staging the 2016 World T20 clash between India and Pakistan. The World T20 clash had to be shifted to Kolkata from Dharamsala by International Cricket Council (ICC) at the last moment on grounds of security. In a freewheeling chat with Xtra Time, the BCCI President shared his thoughts on the first ever Pink Ball Test match in the country, arrangements being made for the historic occasion, hosting the Indo-Pak clash during World T20, dew effect at the Eden Gardens, visibility factor under twilight and Virat Kohli’s excitement for the much anticipated test match against Bangladesh and excitement around in the lead up to the momentous occasion. Here are the excerpts from the interview:
XT: Couldn’t have asked for a better response in the lead up to the D/N test?
Sourav: Yeah, the best thing is it’s a sell-out. For the last five six years you haven’t seen that in test cricket. So, I’m extremely happy for that.
XT: What transpired you to think of having a pink ball test match in the country?
Sourav: Yes I feel that’s the way forward for test cricket because this format needed a push and rejuvenation. It happens around the world and somewhere it had to start. India is the biggest country in terms of cricket and I think pink ball test was important to give a boost to this format here.
XT: Cricket Australia has made the Pink Ball test an annual affair since the first D/N test was held at Adelaide in 2015. Can we see BCCI taking the same path?
Sourav: We will see. First let’s see how this test match goes before taking a call. It is too early to comment.
XT: Talking about the arrangements, it seems the city will be turned pink over the next few days.
Sourav: The entire ground will be pink on the day of the test. There will be dignitaries coming from both countries. The manual scoreboard is having a face-lift. The electronics scoreboard will also have a pink look. It will simply look fantastic. Entire city is turning pink, the big buildings like the Tata Centre, The 42, Shahid Minar will be illuminated pink. There will be a pink boat which will ferry the Ganges every day during the test match. There’s the mascot and then there is the balloon which will be flying over the Eden Gardens.
XT: Which one was more challenging – hosting the Indo-Pak World T20 clash in 2016 or the Pink Ball Test now?
Sourav: I think this is more challenging. The biggest challenge was to get the people back to the ground for a test match. An India – Pakistan clash in any stadium across India will be a house full. The demand for tickets was unbelievable on that day. This was more difficult but we still managed to get the stadium full with 65000 spectators on the first three days. And that’s makes it even more satisfying.
XT: There are a lot of talks going round about the visibility of the pink ball during twilight. What are your thoughts?
Sourav: No no, it will be fine for everyone. The floodlights here are good as well. Even during the One Day internationals, for 10-15 minutes during the switch from day to dark, there is a bit of an issue. So what, you can’t have greats of Indian cricket playing in front of empty stands.
XT: Will the dew factor come into effect given that the post supper session will be played under lights?
Sourav: It will be fine. We play day night one day matches here.
XT: Lastly, the Indian captain Virat Kohli is super excited to be part of the pink ball test match.
Sourav: He (Kohli) is a great player and he should be playing in front of a full house and will be happy when he walks into the crease to bat on Day 1.
Here is the link of the full video interview: