Photos: A massive pink balloon, mascots and murals – Eden Gardens gets ready for day-night Test

Even if you only had a fleeting interest in cricket, you would have heard by now. Kolkata is getting ready for a historic occasion as India will become the last major cricketing nation to enter the pink-ball Test era on Friday.

The second Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata will be a day-night affair – partly played under floodlights, and with a pink ball rather than red for better visibility. This will be the first pink-ball Test for both sides.

Day-night Tests, aimed at increasing crowds and TV audiences for the five-day games, were successfully introduced in 2015 but India had, till recently, balked at joining the party.

Also read: The key differences between pink and red ball, explained by SG

India’s new cricket chief Sourav Ganguly had to work hard to convince both teams to play under floodlights but he has now arranged a grand spectacle at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Virat Kohli’s India appear in little danger of losing the ground-breaking fixture, as they already lead the two-match series 1-0 after a crushing win in Indore.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has kept away from day-night Tests since the first pink ball game in Adelaide between Australia and New Zealand in 2015. It refused to play a Test under lights in Australia last year.

England, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies have all played at least one day-night Test but the BCCI, by far the richest and most powerful board in world cricket, dodged it.

The match will be played from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm IST, in a bid to avoid the worst of the dew that hits the region in winter months. According to reports, the first three days have already been sold out at the famous Eden Gardens.

Here’s a look at how the iconic stadium has been brought to readiness ahead of the historic occasion:

And finally, here’s a collection of photos from the man behind this initiative.

(With AFP inputs)