Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina to ring Eden Gardens bell jointly to start D/N Test

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina to ring Eden Gardens bell jointly to start D/N Test

India and Bangladesh will be playing their first-ever pink-ball Test at the Eden and Sheikh Hasina will be among a starry gathering which will also include Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar.


HIGHLIGHTS 
  • Sheikh Hasina and Mamata Banerjee will ring the customary Eden bell to start the historic day/night Test 
  • India are set to host their 1st ever day-night Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 22 
  • The CAB will also felicitate the team members of Bangladesh-India first-ever Test in 2000
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will ring the customary Eden bell to start the historic day/night India-Bangladesh Test from November 22-26.

Both will be seen at the bell ringing ceremony to start off the first day's proceedings, Cricket Association of Bengal secretary Avishek Dalmiya told reporters at Eden Gardens. 

India are set to host their 1st ever day-night Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 22. Bangladesh agreed to BCCI's proposal for the Test match under lights. 

Notably, India and Bangladesh along with Afghanistan and Ireland are the only teams to have not played a day-night Test yet. Since the 1st-ever day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand in 2015, 11 more have been played.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been sent an invite. Chess legend Viswanathan Anand and tennis star Sania Mirza will also be present along with World badminton champion P.V. Sindhu, six-time World champion boxer Mary Kom and India's only Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, whom the CAB plans to felicitate. Tennis great Leander Paes and badminton national coach Pullela Gopichand have also been invited.

Earlier, reports emerged that BCCI President Sourav Ganguly invited reigning and former world chess champions Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand to ring the customary Eden bell on one of the days during the Test. 

The CAB will also felicitate the team members of Bangladesh-India first-ever Test in 2000, a game where Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, made his debut as Test captain 

Specially designed mementos will be given to the dignitaries while they will also make the round of the stadium aboard golf carts, Avishek said.