Test felt like World Cup final, says Ganguly
KOLKATA: Hosting India’s first pink-ball Test within a month of becoming the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) isn’t easy.
But former captain Sourav Ganguly is used to such challenges.
The match may not have lasted beyond the morning session of the third day but this will go a long way in allaying apprehensions over playing day-night Tests in future, maybe even make it an annual fixture.
Ganguly said the atmosphere would only get better if oppositions like England, South Africa and Australia were to play daynight Tests in India.
“It’s too early to talk of the future. We will all sit down and discuss the way ahead after this one. But just imagine the frenzy if you have teams like England, South Africa and Australia playing pink ball Tests against India. Think what the crowd will get to witness,” said Ganguly in an interview during the second day of the pink ball Test here.
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India play their next Test series in New Zealand in FebruaryMarch next year but Ganguly didn’t want to commit to playing a day-night Test there. “Nothing is decided yet. We still have time for the New Zealand series. Let’s see,” he said.
This was an extraordinary year of Test cricket for India as they completed series wins in Australia, West Indies before blanking South Africa and Bangladesh at home. New Zealand, however, could prove to be a bigger challenge. But Ganguly is confident that this team can deliver.
“I will not compare this bowling attack with the ones in the past, but this is a very good attack. New Zealand are a good team. At home, in their own conditions, it will be challenging but I am hopeful Virat and the boys will do well there as well,” he said.
The match also witnessed Virat Kohli become the first Indian to score a hundred in pink ball Test. “Oh he is just brilliant. What a knock. I have played alongside some of the best and he definitely belongs in that category. Just a pleasure to watch the consistency with which he scores runs. He is a run-machine,” said Ganguly.
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Eden Gardens has hosted many memorable matches, last being the 2016 World Twenty20 final, where West Indies beat England, but Ganguly said the atmosphere during the pink ball Test made it seem like a World
Cup final.
“Just take a look around (fans with their camera lights on to click pictures). Do you see this? Have you seen this in Test cricket? When was the last time you had a capacity crowd watching a Test match? Feels like it is a World Cup final,” he smiled.
It also took him back to the famous 2001 Test win against Australia—scripted after India were asked to follow on—that changed the face of Indian cricket. “Oh! It is an absolutely amazing feeling. Feels great. Look for yourself. It brings back memories of the 2001 Test match if you ask me. This is what Test cricket should be, packed stadiums,” he said. Does he miss being a part of the pink ball era? “You cannot say that as we have all had our time. When we were playing, the T20 had just come in and look at how it has spread and now this,” he said.
THE MATCH ALSO WITNESSED VIRAT KOHLI BECOME THE FIRST INDIAN TO SCORE A HUNDRED IN PINK BALL TEST