Eden's Day-Night Test to see play start at 1 pm & end at 8 pm to counter dew

Kolkata, Nov 12:  Keeping in mind the dew factors that comes into play at the Eden Gardens post sunset on winter evenings, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has agreed to the Cricket Association of Bengal's (CAB) request to start the game at 1 p.m. and end the day's play by 8 p.m in the Day-Night Test between India and Bangladesh from November 22 to 26 in Kolkata.

A BCCI official confirmed the development and said that sessions have been re-planned keeping in mind the need to call stumps by 8 p.m. as the ball would get really wet if play carried on post 8 p.m. in Kolkata in late November.

"Keeping in mind the dew factor, the BCCI approved CAB's request to change the playing hours in the second Test. While play will start at 1 p.m., the first session will end at 3 p.m. The second session will start from 3:40 p.m. and continue till 5:40 p.m. The final session will be played from 6 p.m. till 8 p.m.," the official told IANS.

Earlier, Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee had said that starting early would help in fighting the dew factor. "The dew factor comes into play mostly after 8-8:30 p.m. as we have seen in white-ball game this time of the year at Eden. Therefore, I don't think dew will be a problem," Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) curator Sujan had said.

"We also have arrangements to tackle dew issues like treatment sprays and all that."

Asked about his preparation and how the pitch is likely to behave, the veteran curator said: "My preparation is the same like I do for any day game. I will make the pitch as sporting as possible. We have had good pitches at Eden in the past and it would be no different. It doesn't change since it's a Day-Night affair."

Meanwhile, demand for tickets has been on an all-time high with CAB taking to Twitter to announce the huge demand for tickets to watch India's maiden pink-ball Test.

"More than 50,000 people to witness India's first #PinkBall D/N Test at #EdenGardens each day for first three days as demand for tickets shoot through the roof. #BetheChange @SGanguly99 @BCCI #IndvBanTest," the tweet read.