Kolkata: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived here around 10.30am Friday to inaugurate India’s maiden Day/Night pink ball Test match at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium.
Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly received Hasina at the airport.
India is taking on Bangladesh in its first-ever pink ball Test match, seven years after the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave its approval to the format.
Several former leading cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, have arrived in the city to witness the historic match.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister will inaugurate the game by ringing of the customary Eden Bell along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Hasina and Banerjee are scheduled to hold a brief one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the match.
Sources close to the BCCI said that over 10,000 Bangladesh fans have arrived here to witness the historic game. They have got the tickets, but many of them are yet to get accommodation in city hotels which are full. Many of them spent the night under the boundary wall of the Eden Gardens with the Bangladesh flag wrapped around them to get protection from the cold. But they did not seem to mind.
Agencies