The journey had begun in 1864. After that some dates are inscribed in golden letters. At the beginning the ground was called ‘Auckland Circus Gardens’. Being inspired from Garden of Eden of the Bible, the ground was named Eden Gardens! The first Test match was held in 1934, in this oldest ground of India.
However, first class crickets were held earlier, in 1917-18. Then the Test match journey had begun in 1934 between England and India. But next match was held after 15 years. After playing against West Indies, Eden passed busy schedules. Simultaneously the World Cup was also held her.
On Friday (Nov.22) another new feather will be added with the continuous stories of Eden Gardens. Day and Night Test match between India and Bangladesh will be held on this ground for the first time- a new experience for both battling teams as well as friendly teams. Not only in India but also first experience in South Asia playing with pink ball.
The eastern Indian city is firmly in the grip of a pink fever and tickets for the first four days have already sold out.
City landmarks are being illuminated in pink to mark the occasion, and a ball-shaped pink blimp hovers over the 67,000-capacity stadium.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will headline the list of dignitaries and army paratroopers will descend to hand over pink balls to India captain Virat Kohli and his counterpart Mominul Haque.
People stand in front of the Shaheed Minar monument illuminated in pink on the eve of the first day-night test cricket match between India and Bangladesh using pink ball, in Kolkata, India, November 21, 2019.
Eden Gardens has a rich history and this is another chapter. The players are not immune to the fever either.
Approximately 5000 Bangladeshi fans will cheer Mominul and his men as they seek to bounce back from defeat inside three days in the series opener in Indore.
Test cricket needs to be more competitive. At the same time, if you want to bring crowd back into Test cricket, pink-ball is an excellent idea, Mominul said ahead of what would be Bangladesh's maiden day-night Test as well.
At the beginning of today’s fest the whole ground will be charmed with the band show of Kolkata police. Then Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal CM Momata Banerjee will come into the ground from the VIP box. They will be introduced with the players of the two teams.
Next there will be toss with special manufactured gold coin for the pink Test match. Next the two countries will be one when the national anthems composed Tagore will be sung along with orchestra.
After the national anthems Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and CM Momota Banerjee will ring the famous bell of Eden signaling the inauguration of pink Test. The whole time the two VIPs will be accompanied by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and BCB presidentNazmul Hassan Papon.
Then at local time 1 PM the day –night pink Test will begin.
In the lunch break more surprises are awaiting. Legendary cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laksman, Rahul Dravir, Birendra Shewah and Sourav Ganguly will hold a different type of talk show. It is also learnt that some Bangladesh Test players of debutant Test match played between India & Bangladesh in 2000 including Akram Khan, captain Naimur Rahman Durjoy and other players will be present in the ground as invited guests of CAB except the Bangladesh centurion Aminul Islam Bulbul who is now in Australia.