Ishant Sharma after picking up a five-wicket haul against Bangladesh in Kolkata in their inaugural pink-ball Test
After a stellar success in its maiden appearance in front of the jubilant Kolkata crowd at the Eden Gardens, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly feels that Team India should play at least one day-night Test match every series. India had made their maiden appearance in this format of Test cricket last month, against Bangladesh and over 40000 fans had flocked to the venue on each day of the Test match. India had won the match by an innings and wrapped up the series with a 2-0 win.
India were the last cricket side to embrace the format after months of refusal. But with Test cricket witnessing a plunge in the number of spectators, Ganguly urged Team India to agree to a day-night Test.
“I am pretty upbeat about it,” Ganguly told ‘The Week’ magazine. “I feel this is the way forward. Not every test, but at least one test in a series.”
Cricket Association of Bengal deserves ample credit for the success as well as they illuminated the city's prominent landmarks in pink, invited notable spots personalities and created quite a buzz over the maiden pink-ball Test. Impressed with the turnout at the Eden Gardens, Ganguly looks to implement the same at other venues as well.
“I will share my experiences with the board and we will try and implement it in other places. After this, everyone is ready. Nobody wants to play test cricket in front of 5,000 people,” added the former India captain.
However, contrary to the opinion of the BCCI president, Virat Kohli feels, "It (day-night tests) can be a one-off thing, it should not be a regular scenario."
