Talks have been there to start the tradition of the day-night Test match in Indian cricket but Sourav Ganguly was the only one to actually implement it. India is playing its first day-night Test match in Kolkata against Bangladesh.
More than 40,000 people came to witness the day one of the first pink-ball Test match. It was not looking like that it is a Test match. To mark the day memorable, important buildings in Kolkata were shining with a pink colour. Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and BCCI had no stone left unturned.
Hopefully, we will continue to see all of you turning up in Test matches – Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly thanked the crowd of Eden Gardens to make the day special. He hoped that the new tradition in Test cricket of India will attract more people all over India.
“What we saw today at Eden Gardens is a huge step forward for Test cricket,” Ganguly said in his speech. ”It’s you — all the people in this stadium — who make cricket such a popular game.”
“We at the BCCI and the CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) thank you whole-heartedly for turning out in huge numbers for the first-ever pink-ball Test match in Kolkata. Hopefully, we will continue to see all of you turning up in Test matches, not just in Kolkata but throughout the country,” he said.
It was a special day for both countries. Bangladesh is also playing its first day-night Test match. India was dominant on the first day of the pink ball. Records were built on the first day. Ishant Sharma, after 12 years, picked five-wicket haul in a home Test match, and also became the first Indian bowler to mark it in the pink ball. Virat Kohli completed 5000 runs in Test cricket as captain. Cheteshwar Pujara completed 15,000 runs in the first-class cricket.
In the first innings, the trio pacers Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami bundled out the Tigers in just 106 runs.