It took three seconds to convince Virat Kohli for day-night Test: Sourav Ganguly

It will be a historic first for Team India when they take on Bangladesh in the Pink-Ball Test at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata later this month. In the past, India has been reluctant towards featuring in a Day/Night Test. They, along with Bangladesh remain the only sides who have not featured in the Pink-ball affair. Last year, Virat Kohli’s men had turned down Cricket Australia’s request of playing a Day-Night Test at the Adelaide Oval citing the lack of practice as the prime reason.

However, all of that changed with Sourav Ganguly taking over as the President of the BCCI. Ganguly, who has always been a firm believer in pushing the envelope has revealed that it took a mere three seconds for him to convince the Indian captain Virat Kohli while also expressing bewilderment as to why India had been reluctant in the past.

“I don’t know what was the reason they did not want to play (Adelaide Day-Night Test). I met Virat on the 24th, met him for an hour and the first question was that we need to have D/N Test cricket. The answer in three seconds was ‘yes let’s go ahead and do it’,” Ganguly said during the launch of Simon Taufel’s book ‘Finding the Gaps’ as quoted by Statesman.

Sourav Ganguly recalls his 100th Test match at MCG

Sourav Ganguly also went to cite examples of the past and also of the recently concluded Ashes series where crowds turned out in huge numbers. He also admitted that the lifestyle of the society has changed and Test cricket needs to be properly marketed so that it can be in sync with the present times.

“When India went to Australia, my 100th Test match was a Boxing Day Test at MCG. There were 70,000 people watching the game. You should see the Ashes when Australia plays England, not one seat is empty. When India played Australia in 2001 at Eden Gardens, there were 1,50,000 people watching.

“Now people’s life has changed society has changed. You can’t leave offices to watch test matches so adaptability is most important. Moof times, change is good. Sometimes when you are forced to change and come out of your comfort zone, it’s better,” Sourav Ganguly further added.

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