CAB to seek BCCI nod for local pink-ball match

"Yes, we want to play host to a pink-ball Test in the future. We will have to be ready for the requirements. As you know, we will try to host a local four-day match with the pink ball under the floodlights as a test. But we will have to get the clearance from the Board first," Ganguly said.

Sourav Ganguly is keen to host a local four-day match with the pink ball under floodlights.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly today said Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) will have to get a clearance from the BCCI to host a day-night club cricket match to test the state board’s preparedness for the proposed first pink-ball Test in the country.

“Yes, we want to play host to a pink-ball Test in the future. We will have to be ready for the requirements. As you know, we will try to host a local four-day match with the pink ball under the floodlights as a test. But we will have to get the clearance from the Board first,” Ganguly said on the sidelines of a promotional programme here.

The CAB is contemplating to experiment with pink ball day-night match in its upcoming Super League final next month.

Speaking about the ongoing Indian Premier League, Ganguly said Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Rising Pune Supergiants are suffering because of injury woes.

“Dhoni has got quite a few injury issues in his team and that has hampered their chances,” he said.

Asked about Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore, he said: “He (Kohli) has got into too many winning positions and lost. RCB should have won 50 per cent of the matches that they have lost. But you have got to give credit to the way Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils have played. That is how T20 cricket is.”

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir is in sparkling form in the IPL and when asked whether he should be preferred ahead of Shikhar Dhawan in Indian team, a diplomatic Ganguly said: “I will leave that to the selectors.”

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, has recently introduced three private member bills including a significant ‘National Sports Ethics Commission’ bill which recommends “10 years of jail term” for any sportsperson indulging in match-fixing.

“Fixing is of course a serious offence. But what should be the punishment, that has to be decided by the court, the BCCI. I don’t think it will be right for me to comment on that,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly also welcomed the decision to name Sachin Tendulkar as the goodwill ambassador for Indian contingent in the Rio Olympics.

“It’s not fair to give an opinion on everything. I wish the Indian contingent good luck and I wish all of them are successful.”