Eden Gardens is set to hold its first Test match since 2019 when India and South Africa square off at the iconic stadium in Kolkata. This match, which is scheduled to start on Friday and finish next Tuesday, is the first in a two-match Test series involving the hosts and the holders of the World Test Championship.
Since Eden hosted its last Test, a pink-ball match against Bangladesh that was also India’s first ever day-night Test match, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Virat Kohli, who was the captain in this Test, has retired. Players like Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin also hung up their boots.
Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma are still plying their trade but have been sidelined from the scheme of things in the national team. The only survivor of that match who is still playing for India is Ravindra Jadeja who has been included in the upcoming South Africa Test series.
What happened in the historic pink ball Test in 2019?
The match which was played on 22nd November and ended in 3 days i.e. 24th November, Bangladesh batted first. Bangla Tigers were bundled out for just 106 in their first innings with opener Shadman Islam top-scoring with 29 runs with 9 other players only able to muster single-digit scores. Only Liton Das, who retired due to injury at the age of 24, and Naeem Hasan (19) reached double figures. For India, Ishant took 5 wickets, Umesh 3 and Shami 2.
India then came into bat and lost openers Rohit and Mayank in quick succession with the board reading 43/2. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli then held down the fort for India as the then India captain scored a scintillating century, his 27th in Tests while Pujara scored 55 runs. Rahane would score another half-century while Kohli departed after scoring 136 runs. India eventually declared their first innings at 347/9.
In the second innings, Bangladesh put up a better fight than the first but still could not cross the 200-run mark, as they got out on 195 runs, resulting in India winning the match by an innings and 46 runs. Muwafiq Rahim top-scored for Bangladesh with 74 runs while Mahmudullah, who also retired due to injury, scored 39 runs while Ishant and Umesh took 4 and 5 wickets respectively.
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