India
has always been a hub of accepting new ideas and inculcating new habits, and
Kolkata has been one of the pioneers when it comes to liberal ideas and the
habit of tolerance, not to mention a breeding ground for new wave of
acceptance, and this has extended to a multitude of life spheres, including
cricket. The upcoming India-Bangladesh series is a pristine example of
acceptance of new ideas—a focal point of the best cricketers from
both countries, this series is pivotal not just for the ones partaking in
it, but to the extended family of audiences, cricket betting sites in India, and online
communities—and everybody seems to be equally elated and willing to conform to
a certain change in the way this particular test series will be played—a
Day-Night Test Series, first of its kind in India!
The Announcement
The
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board
(BCB) announced that the second Test match of the upcoming Bangladesh tour of
India, 2019, that is to be played in Kolkata from November 22nd will be India’s
first Day-Night Test match.
How Day-Night Test is
Different from the Regular Norm
Essentially
it is just a game of colours—as opposed to the regular norm of test cricket
being played with the red Deus ball, a day-night test match is played with a
pink one for better visibility. The whole point of bringing day-night test
match is to ensure not just a properly spaced game of cricket, but to take the
individual cricketers to the ultimate test (pun intended?) of persistence and
perseverance. As though test matches were not a proper metric of physical
grinding, day-night ones are going to be exponentially more so.
Dadagiri of Modern
Cricket
After
being sworn in as the new President of the BCCI, Sourav Ganguly has created
quite the revolution in the cricketing world—and introduction of day-night test
matches is merely an inception point. It was a rather proud moment to announce
the commencement of the very first day-night test match in India, and he seemed
particularly proud to state that his hometown of Kolkata would be the first to
welcome such a major change in the norms of cricket.
“I’m
pleased to announce that our long-term partner BCB has graciously agreed to
play a Day-Night Test match. This is the beginning of something special in
Indian cricket. It is a priority for the newly elected Office Bearers and
members of Apex Council to take Indian cricket forward. For me, as a former
Captain of India and as the current President of BCCI, Test cricket is of
utmost priority and we at BCCI will leave no stone unturned to bring this
format back to its feet,” said the former Indian Captain.
He
also stated how it would be a focal point for Kohli and his young blood to be
able to increase their skill sets and improve on their cricketing finesse.
Albeit a little dolorous because of the absence
of the big guns like MSD, Ganguly acknowledges how important an event this is
in order to make the shape of the future of Indian Cricket malleable, and for
the better.
Bangla Tigers Agree
In
an unsurprising set of events, Bangladesh Cricket Board has agreed to partake
in their very first day-night test match too, thereby representing how willing
the young Bangla blood is when it comes to new opportunities and new
ramifications of cricket that would most likely lead to a bright future for the
Bangladeshi cricketers and fans alike.
Mr
Nazmul Hassan, the President of the BCB, stated “he BCB and BCCI share a very
long history of support, co-operation and friendship. Ours is a bond of
strength and it is very heartening and reassuring for the BCB to have someone
like Mr Ganguly as BCCI President who has been an integral part of this
journey. On that note, I am pleased that we have had a frank and constructive
discussion with the players and the Team Management. I have received a positive
response about playing the Day-Night Test in view of the BCB-BCCI relationship.”
The Future of Test Cricket in India
Ganguly
acknowledged the fact that, this new format of test match is certainly a way
forth to the future of stable Indian test cricket. As an individual of his
calibre, Ganguly has been rather accepting when it comes to new ideas, and has
been extremely humble in asking for
second opinions that could help shape the form of Indian Cricket in a better
way. The introduction of the day-night format of test cricket is simply a
gateway to the bright and accepting nature of the board of Indian Cricket, and
is a microcosm of the accepting nature of the Country, at a certain level.
