Kolkata: Ahead of historic day-night Test match, visiting Bangladesh and hosts India began to formal practice with the pink-ball at the iconic venue of Eden Gardens here today.Both the sides arrived here on Tuesday for the landmark 5-day play to begin on November 22 and Indian cricket board has decided that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also acknowledged BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's invitation to be present as the chief guest on the first day, will ring the bell for starting the match.
Visiting Bangladesh has been allotted to practice with pink ball first from 1000 hrs to 1300 hrs at Eden Gardens and India will train from 1500 hrs onward.
Before this, Eden had witnessed a pink ball 4-day domestic match between Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipur, which was organised by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), in which Mohammed Shami had taken 7 wickets for Bagan in 2016.
Experts believe that Eden Gardens is an ideal and fit pitch to host first pink ball Test match in which the both the rival sides to play for the first time an international play in this continent.
CAB curator Sujan Mukherjee is very much hopeful and optimistic that both the sides have plus and minus advantages with the new colour ball play.
Traditionally the cricket is played red ball and day-night limited overs with white ball.BCCI chief curator Ashish Bhowmick also in the city to oversee the preparation of the surface at the Eden Gardens.
The organisers are hoping that the first three days whole stadium is expected to be full house where some 68,000 fans to be accommodated.
Meanwhile pink-ball Cricket Fever gripped the with the arrival India's Virar Kohli brigade and Bangladesh side.
The first ever India-Bangladesh five-day Test, billed as the historic in the anal of the gentle man's game in this continent, thanks to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which readily agreed to Indian cricket board's president Sourav Ganguly 's request to play at the Eden Gardens.
In a recent statement, Ganguly had said it took Virat Kohli three seconds to say yes to pink ball Tests and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) immediately approached the BCB to play in pink ball to attract more spectators.
It is said that the Army paratroopers will fly into the Eden Gardens to hand over a pink ball each to the two captains just before the toss of the historic day-night Test.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also acknowledged Ganguly's invitation to be present on the first day, is expected to wring the bell for starting the match.
India's Home minister Amit Shah and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee among the invitees on Day 1 at the picturesque where both India and Bangladesh players, who participated the first Test between the nations in 2000 at Dhaka would also grace the occasion.
Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane were the to land at the city airport and moved to the team hotel.
Rohit Sharma and pacer Mohammed Shami would be the last to join the squad on Wednesday.India defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 130 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the first of the two-match Test match series on Saturday at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. Indore.(UNI)
