CALCUTTA (India): On Friday, India’s Test cricket team will become the ninth international side to play a day-night Test when they host Bangladesh for the second Test of the two-Test series at the Eden Gardens.
Virat Kohli-led India won the first Test in Indore by an inning and 130 runs.
The city has turned pink for the historic occasion, and more than 50,000 fans are expected to witness India’s first Pink Ball D/N Test.
After having registered clean sweep victories in Test series against the West Indies and South Africa, Kohli will aim for another whitewash.
The teams are already in the city to prepare for the game,
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday inspected the pitch, which is being tipped to behave differently than the conventional cherry.
The India vs Bangladesh second Test will be the 12th match in the history of day-night Test cricket.
Meanwhile, the experts have felt that it won’t be easy for the spinners to grip the pink ball, which will also not aid reverse swing.
Besides, the batsmen will also have a tough time to gauge the black seam on a pink surface.
The Cricket Association of Bengal is leaving no stone unturned to make the occasion a special one for Indian and Bangladeshi fans, who will be coming to witness the match from November 22.
BCCI promotion on Pink Ball Test
BCCI released a 17-second clip on social media in which the Eden Gardens can be seen lit up in the pink colour, inside and out.
“Kolkata gearing up for the #PinkBallTest,” BCCI captioned the post.
For the record, Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali is the leading run-scorer in day-night Tests with 456 runs to his name from six innings.
He has scored a century and two half-centuries in the day-night Test format.
The historic match will start with Army paratroopers flying into the Eden Gardens to hand over a pink ball each to the two captains just before the toss.
This will be followed by the ringing of the customary Eden Bell by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
