Sourav Ganguly reveals Virat Kohli’s stand on Day-Night Tests

Sourav Ganguly’s long-time teammate VVS Laxman, along with Mohammed Azharuddin, headlined the guest list at the event.

Sourav Ganguly has said India captain Virat Kohli is ‘agreeable’ to playing day-night Tests but didn’t specify when. “We are all thinking about this (lack of crowds at Tests in India). I am a big believer in day-night Tests and I will be pushing for it. These days you can’t skip work or school and attend Tests. T20 has seriously challenged other formats and that (playing day-night Tests) will be a change in the right direction. Virat is agreeable to the idea and once the India captain is on board, life becomes a lot easier,” said Ganguly here on Friday, at a programme organised by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) to felicitate him on becoming the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

File: Sourav Ganguly with Virat Kohli. (PTI)

Ganguly’s long-time teammate VVS Laxman, along with Mohammed Azharuddin, headlined the guest list at the event. When asked what he thinks is the most important thing Ganguly should do as BCCI president, the former replied: “He should revive the NCA (National Cricket Acadeny).

“If we have seen the most depleted South Africa in the time I have been watching cricket, it is because their domestic structure is weak. If India are this strong, it is because of their bench-strength and because the domestic structure is good. The NCA plays an important role in that and I would like to see it become a centre of excellence under Sourav,” said Laxman, whom Ganguly caller his life-saver because “every time my captaincy was under pressure, he would hit a hundred.”

Laxman is also the batting consultant of the CAB’s development programme since 2014. “When I took charge, Sourav was the joint-secretary. He worked out of a small room clearing files. I was not surprised, I was shocked. Here was the blue-eyed boy of Bengal and there was absolutely no ego,” he said.

In the next 10 months, everything Laxman said will be tested. “At times when I sit with a cup of tea, I pinch myself and ask whether I am really that good. But it feels good that so many people think that I am good enough. Whether it is 10 months or three years, I hope when I leave, people won’t say cricketers are good only while playing and can’t run an administration, “said Ganguly.

Azharuddin, Ganguly’s first India captain, said: “I want him to achieve more than what he did as India captain. He is bold enough to take decisions, be president on his own terms.”

Earlier, Azhar said he was Bengal’s most-loved cricketer. “When Sourav came along, I became No. 2. After Laxman, I am now No. 3.”