Union Home Minister Amit Shah will attend India’s first ever day-night Test along with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on November 22.
An hour-long programme has also been planned in the evening in which sportspersons like Abhinav Bindra, Mary Kom will be felicitated.
“Felicitation of other sportsmen like Abhinav Bindra, Mary Kom will be done in the evening. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina will also be there. There also might be a speech by Sachin as well,” Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) Secretary Avishek Dalmiya told media.
When asked whether wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni would also be present on the occasion, he said: “We have invited MS Dhoni, there are talks about him doing commentary, but these are the talks that the broadcasters might be able to answer”.
Talking about the plans for the entire day, the secretary revealed that para-troopers would come down with the pink ball before the start of the match.
“In the initial part, para-troopers would be there and they would actually come down with the pink ball, this is what we have planned initially. After that, the ringing of the stadium bell and playing national anthem would be done. During the lunch break, we are planning a chat-show with cricketers involving Sourav Ganguly, Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble,” Dalmiya said.
“Other than the chat show, there would be boys playing in the background who will be HIV affected kids. After the chat show, breast cancer survivors would be given flower bouquets by the cricketers. As the colour of breast cancer awareness is pink, and we are playing the pink-ball Test, it is for that. The major thing is that in the evening, one hour programme has been scheduled by us in which we will be felicitating the former cricketers. Bangladesh team that played their first Test against India would be there. 11-12 members of the Indian side would also be there,” he added.
On October 29, it was announced that India and Bangladesh would play their first-ever day/night Test at Eden Gardens from November 22-26.
When BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was asked how long did it take to convince skipper Virat Kohli to play the day/night Test, he replied: ““I had met Virat on October 25th for an hour and my first question was, we need to have day-night Test cricket and the answer in three seconds was let’s go ahead and do it. I found him absolutely acceptable to play day-night Test matches”.
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