Fans set to have a ball as Eden turns pink for day-night Test

Kolkata: They say pink is not just a colour but an attitude and Eden Gardens is flaunting it days before the first day-night Test match on Indian soil. The pink ball, which will be used in the match between India and Bangladesh, has emerged as the central theme around the historic sporting event.

On Monday, the iconic ground received finishing touches in pink hues ahead of the match which starts on November 22.

While a team of young art students painted cricket graffiti on the walls of the ground, the event’s official mascot Pinku-Tinku practised acrobatics and posed for pictures.

As CAB president Sourav Ganguly has said, tickets for the first three days have been almost sold out. “The preparations are almost complete. Plans are afoot to light up some of the tall buildings in the vicinity in pink before and during the match. We also expect the mascot to be a big hit with young fans,” said a senior CAB official.

Play will start at 1pm daily while the second session will be from 3.40 pm. So one-and-a-half sessions will be played under floodlights. “The floodlights will come on during the second session. People returning home from office and school children will get a lot of time to come to the stadium,” said the official.

“I want to witness history being made when the pink ball is used in the first day-night Test match in India,” said Arkaprava Mazumdar, who came from Naihati to collect his ticket he had booked online.

Many felt that Sourav’s initiative to push for day-night Tests soon after taking over as BCCI president was in the best interest of the five-day format. “The shorter and faster formats of the game are making Test matches insignificant. Day-night Test matches along with other improvisations will bring back cricket lovers to the most traditional format of the game,” said Mohammad Iftekhar, an under-19 cricketer.