[caption id="attachment_23535" align="alignnone" width="580"]Kapil-with-Eden-Ball Kapil Dev doing the honour of ringing the Eden Bell in the presence of CAB President Sourav Ganguly. Image Source: Xtra Time[/caption] Kolkata: Eden Gardens added another feather to its cap on Friday. Apart from hosting the 250th Test Match on Indian soil, legendary cricketer Kapil Dev started the bell ringing ritual in front of a sparse crowd on the morning of the first day of second test match against New Zealand. Also present was Cricket Associaton of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly. In fact both Kapil and Sourav had the honour of ringing the Bell at Lords.

Looking dapper in a suit, the 1983 hero wore a bright smile on his face. Eden Gardens can now boast of having a similar bell which is in place at Lords. From now there will be an international cricketer or administrator or a well-known enthusiast of the sport who will perform the act. Made of pure silver, weighing 107 kgs, the bell is over two feet in diameter making it look a resplendant piece of metal. The two teams lined up on the ground facing the bell and once it was rung exactly at 9.30 am, the umpires officialy started the game. [caption id="attachment_23537" align="alignnone" width="580"]Eden-Talk-Show The Haryana Hurricane sharing his views at the Talk Show organised by CAB. Image Source: Xtra Time[/caption] Expressing it as an honour to ring the bell, Kapil Dev showered praises on Ganguly and the Cricket Association of Bengal. The Haryana Hurricane , later speaking in a Talk Show organised by CAB, lamented that during his cricketing days, selectors used to call the shots and not the captains as it happens nowadays. According to Kapil, "I think during our time, behind a successful player there needed (to be) a successful selector." He further added, "It happens now that the captain is the boss. In our time, in one generation 6-7 captains were playing. I hoped selectors would have changed during that point and new selectors would come who would give the responsibility to the captain and his job is over." "You play one bad shot and you're out of the team. Now you play 10 bad shots but still have your chance because the captain is backing you. This can happen now, but not in our time."   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyBNgLUFGes