Blue springs for the Men in Blue: Virat Kohli and Co spend leisure time at Putaruru

The historic match, between India and Bangladesh, will kickstart with Army paratroopers landing in Eden Gardens to hand over a pink ball to each of the two captains, just before the toss.

This will be followed by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (left) and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (right) ringing the customary Eden Bell.

A day-night Test match, as the name suggests, is played either totally, or partially under floodlights (artificial stadium lighting) in the evening or night. The idea behind playing day-night Tests is to increase the footfall at the match, because a large number of cricket enthusiasts watch matches after workhours.

Friday’s Test match is particularly important, and as Virat Kohli calls it, a ‘landmark occasion’, because this is India’s maiden day-night Test match.

The Test match at Eden is coincidentally happening on the one-month anniversary of Ganguly being named BCCI Chief. The Bengal Tiger had given a go-ahead for the idea immediately after being appointed Chief.

The pink-ball, or ‘pink cherry’ as it is fondly called, is used in day-night Test matches as it has better visibility during the night as compared to the red balls, usually used for Test matches.

The red balls, under yellow floodlights, take a brownish colour which is similar to the colour of the pitch. The pink ball is glossy and shiny in contrast to the matte finish of the red ball.

However, the question remains, why not use white balls that are normally used for T20 and ODI matches. An advantage of using the pink balls is that they deteriorate slowly as compared to the white balls which makes them ideal for day-night Test matches.

One of the biggest concerns around the pink ball is its longevity. The more pink ball is used, the faster it loses its original colour. The grass acts as a cushion which helps the pink cherry last longer. That’s why Eden was chosen as the venue of the match since the stadium has a good grass cover.

The match at Eden will see the sun set at approx. 4 pm IST, owing to the Indian winter. As a result, dew is expected to set in. As captain Kohli said, "There is no way for us to anticipate dew. So, that is a concern and it will be a factor in the last session."

If there’s a lot of dew, gripping the ball may become a major challenge.

Another challenge is the weight of the pink ball. The pink ball feels heavier which makes fielding very difficult. While catching, the ball hits the hands of the fielder harder and more effort is required when the ball is thrown from the boundary.