Does Sourav Ganguly Need A Rehabilitation Package?

It is a historical fact that cricketers from the Eastern and the North Eastern regions of the country rarely make it as big as Sourav Ganguly and get to represent Team India at the international level. We’re yet to have a cricketer from the states of North East India who’s made it to Team India. Therefore, when some player achieves this feat people of that particular state or region get ecstatic and their euphoria normally gets translated into a range of sentiments and emotions—positive most of the times, but can be darker at moments of adversity that, according to their perceptions, seem to affect their loved cricketer. I remember quite a few instances while I had been to Kolkata and happened to listen to the radio commentary of India’s test or one-day matches out on the streets. Invariably a person would come up to me and ask what the score was. I would reply India was batting and the score was this or that. On almost a reflex emotion the person would want to know, “Is Ganguly still batting?” If informed that Ganguly was out with a poor score s/he would grimace bitterly. Well, emotions or sentiments are produced among the most powerful people of the concerned state or region too, with the exception that most of such people of the political orientation would use those to score brownie points for their party or for self.

 

Now, Sourav Ganguly, one of the finest opening batsmen of world cricket and arguably the very first genuinely aggressive India captain, remains a living legend of Indian cricket irrespective of what the BCCI or anybody has done to him. What happened exactly? The BCCI had ‘denied’ him a second term as President of the Board. Why use ‘deny’? He had been the first cricketer to be appointed or elected as the BCCI President for a full three-year term and we all hailed his appointment as the most welcome step as far as the game of cricket was concerned. BCCI being the richest cricket box office of the world that jingles constantly politics had been a part and parcel of its elections with political bigwigs always craving positions therein and to have their followers in the important posts. In its eventful and often turbulent history over the decades the BCCI had never had a President for consecutive two terms. Therefore, it should be gracefully accepted by all that to be able to serve the BCCI for full three years is more than enough honor for any individual of any level of celebrity.

 

Did Ganguly deserve a second term on merit by way of his outstanding achievements in the preceding three years? There’s not enough clinching evidence here. Of course, he had taken a lot initiatives in promoting the domestic cricket arena and started the first ever day-n-night Pink Tests in India in 2019; he’d brought in legendary veterans, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, into active cricket roles; and he’d clinched the never-before business deal for the IPL recently. On the dubious side, if we can call it so, the huge Virat-captaincy controversy could’ve been handled much better, and in our view, he allowed the endless policy of experimentation in Team India cum mindless changes in the Indian batting order go on under the very nose of Rahul Dravid who was appointed Team India coach by him only. The pandemic did prove to be a big obstacle for Sourav no doubt, but the IPL promotion almost overshadowing international cricket that has been always the policy of the BCCI went on unhindered though and Ganguly just fell or had to fall in line.

 

As per media reports Sourav Ganguly did expect a second term and on being not given he looked irritated and discontented. However, it’d be puerile to think that Ganguly was not aware of the underbelly of politics in the BCCI elections, particularly in view of the fact that his own appointment in 2019 was a last-minute decision, and if it was not so he should’ve been proactive enough to fulfill the desires of the powers-that-be, particularly in the arena of West Bengal politics. Apparently, he lost the BCCI votes, but won the conscience vote which should’ve made him happy. Besides, he was offered the Chairman post of the IPL that he turned down as a demotion, again justifying his principles.  

 

As a natural outcome of the region-specific sentiments we mentioned earlier the ruling party of West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC), has been raising a hue and cry over the underplay of politics in ‘denying’ Ganguly a second term. Now in recent days, TMC head and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee had appealed to none other than the Prime Minister of India to consider Ganguly for the post of the Chairman of the ICC which was also reportedly denied to Ganguly by the Board. This is hardly better than begging for alms and I think it’s pathetic considering the stature of this brilliant and upright ex-cricketer. If you ask for alms you should do so for scores of ex-sportspersons who are languishing across nooks and corners of the whole country and are in extreme penury due to the lack of means to earn a living. And anyway, what’s so sacrosanct about the ICC Chairman’s post because everybody knows that it’s the BCCI who calls the shots in international cricket nowadays?

 

As we mentioned earlier Sourav Ganguly remains a living legend of Indian cricket and there’s absolutely no dearth of options for him in what to do next. In fact, days after the ‘denial’ Ganguly said in Kolkata that he’d been lucky to have served cricket admins in West Bengal and in India, and that such roles could not go on for eternity. It was reported recently that he was considering contesting the elections of Cricket Board of Bengal (CAB) again. Over the years Sourav Ganguly has been actively engaged in every possible sphere of activity in West Bengal or in India, both commercial and otherwise, and it’d be only matter of time before he decides what best to do next. Meanwhile, we must welcome the appointment of Roger Binny, another genuine cricketing gem and part of the 1983 World Cup winning Team India squad, as the President of the BCCI for the next three years and wish him all the luck for good work irrespective of the political pulls and triggers that just cannot be wished away.

Ind Vs SL 2nd Test: Pant Hits The Fastest Fifty, Indian Batting Extends It To The Third Day!

Source: BCCI

Having all the time in the world India didn’t really need to hurry setting a target and so batted on till the 9^th wicket fell, and luckily extending the pink-ball Test match to the third day. Given their pitch-specific one-day cricket tactics India scored at a very healthy 4+ per over run rate scoring 303/9 in the 69^thover setting a target of 447 runs to win for Sri Lanka. This target is a tall order for the side batting last on any kind of pitch anywhere. The highlights of the Indian innings include the fastest fifty in Test cricket for India by Rishabh Pant (50) who achieved the feat in just 28 balls, bettering that of Kapil Dev in 30 balls; good opening partnership with Rohit (46) tackling the spinners well scoring all around the park including reverse sweeps, unfortunately missing his much deserved half-century; and Shreyas Iyer, the hero of the first innings, lapped up his consecutive second fifty of the match with an exciting 67-run innings. Except for Kohli (13) all batsmen contributed well and the bowlers too scored runs with Shami remaining not out at 16 when the declaration came.

 

It has been the class of Team India in all departments of the game that stood out in sharp contrast in this match than the pitch behavior. The Sri Lankans did poorly in both bowling and fielding—their pacers not at all matching the might of Bumrah-Shami and their spinners, particularly Lasith Embuldeniya, were let down often by the slip catchers. In India second innings Embuldeniya had to be content with 3 wickets and Praveen Jayawickrama with 4—both of them deserved a fifer in at least one innings. With just 7 overs left in the second day to start chasing the mammoth target Sri Lanka lost opener Lahiru Thirimanne for a duck in the very first over by Bumrah. Fortunately, captain Dimuth Karunaratne and Kushal Mendis saw through the day with the team score of 28/1 at stumps. It is to be seen tomorrow whether India would need one or two or three sessions to sweep the series 2-0, now a foregone conclusion.

 

Earlier in the morning session today, India needed just about 6 overs to get the remaining 4 Sri Lanka wickets bundling them out for a paltry 109, taking a huge lead of 143 runs. Jasprit Bumrah, firing all cylinders since the first day, achieved a fifer which is his first on Indian soil while R Ashwin got into the act with 2 wickets. In batting, apart from Iyer, Rishabh Pant sparkled in both innings and in the Series too with his brilliant 96 in the first test. Only it’s still a long wait for Virat Kohli to score a century as he ends this Series without even a single fifty. We already mentioned about Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round glory of 175 not out and a haul of 9 wickets in that test. Test Cricket is over for some time to come now as the IPL-2022 gets underway later this month with 10 franchises ready to fight it out.

Ind Vs SL 2nd Test: The Pink Ball Blues Or The Pitch As 16 Wickets Fall On 1st Day?

Source: BCCI

As many as 16 wickets fell on the very first day of the Second and last Test match, a day-n-night pink ball affair, between India and Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru today. Pink ball test matches have been a very recent addition to the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship (WTC) schedules and this is perhaps only the third match played in India so far. India demolished Bangladesh in the first ever Pink-ball test in Kolkata and then England in the second pink-ball Ahmedabad match. Normally the pink ball is associated with more swing, particularly in the twilight period when the lights come on, even though this is still not a proven fact. In this particular match more than the pink ball blues the pitch seems to have played a far pivotal role. The pitch has proved to be a turning one from day 1 combined uneven and variable bounce which helped both the seamers and the spinners. The way the wickets fell in heaps on the very first day the match could very well be over in two days in which case the curator may have to face the ICC probe.

 

India won the toss and obviously elected to bat first. The Indian batsmen seemed to have sensed the nature of the pitch and accordingly decided to make hay as long as the pitch shines, attacking the bowlers in the short-format style with opener getting runout in the very second over. Captain Rohit Sharma tried to blast his way out, but was cut short by Embuldeniya for 15 runs. Kohli (23) and Hanuma Vihari (31) then adopted the sheet-anchor roles, but could not save their wickets for long. India were reduced to 86/4 and then to 148/6. Shreyas Iyer, surprisingly coming after Pant, played a terrific innings of 92 runs thus restoring India to a respectable total of 252 all out in just the 60^th over which could very well be a winning one proving the Indian batting tactics right.

 

Given the nature of the pitch the Sri Lanka bowlers failed to take advantage of the conditions, particularly the fast bowlers, Lakmal and Fernando, with only the former managing to take a wicket. The spinning trio of Embuldeniya, Jayawickrama and Dhananjaya de Silva captured 8 wickets between them. As India got all out just before the dinner break the Sri Lanka batsmen had the arduous task ahead of facing the Indian seamers under the lights.

 

And yes, Bumrah and Shami proved lethal for them making the ball swing both ways and took 5 wickets between them, Bumrah taking 3 scalps. Axar Patel, replacing Jayant Yadav after a long rehab break, took the 6^th wicket. Sri Lanka were precariously placed at 86/6 at stumps with only Angelo Mathews (43) providing some resistance. If the Indian spinning trio of Ashwin, Axar and Jadeja along with Bumrah and Shami have their ways on an already deteriorating pitch we might see a very dramatically eventful second day tomorrow.

 

Since this two-match Test Series is part of the WTC schedule India’s probable 2-0 sweep over Sri Lanka would improve their ranking significantly.

Motera Pink-Ball Test All Over In Less Than 2 Days As India Crush England By 10 Wickets To Go 2-1 Up!

The pink ball seems to be finding it very hard to have a footing in India despite the enthusiasm and suspense surrounding it! The first ever day-night Test match using this ball was held in November 2019 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata between India and Bangladesh, and the much-hyped match was all over in two days and 47 minutes with India crushing the visitors and thousands of spectators wanting more, at least 3 days of cricket. And now, the second pink-ball test to happen at the magnificent new Motera stadium, Ahmedabad is over in even less than 2 days, India crushing England by 10 wickets with the India spinners Axar Patel, after his fiver in his debut test in Chennai, taking 11 wickets (two five-wicket hauls) and Ravichandran Ashwin accounting for total 7 wickets thus becoming the second fastest bowler of the world to take 400 Test wickets. Such short-lived pink-ball tests should also raise some concern for the BCCI: with the kind of crowds coming in to watch a cricket test just think of the revenue loss for the days of the game lost!

 

17 wickets fell today, the second day that is 25^thFebruary 2021, compared to 13 on the first day yesterday. Replying to England’s 112 India started the day at 99/3 and just after levelling the score there was a collapse, losing 7 wickets for a final total of 145, yielding a tiny lead of 33 runs. Captain Joe Root made a spectacular display of spin bowling by taking a fiver for only 8 runs, and Jack Leach settled for 4 wickets.  There was much expectation from the famed Indian batting depth to build a match-winning lead on the visitors’ paltry total, but failed in heaps. Therefore, at that point the match was evenly poised.    

 

England’s second innings turned out to be a bigger disaster with Axar striking with his very first ball and then devouring Bairstow in the same over. England could never recover from those vital blows finally folding up for one of their lowest totals of 81, giving India just 49 runs to get for a win. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill did that easily enough within one hour of the third session thus ensuring a thumping win by 10 wickets. England is now out of contention for the World Test Championship Final and India only has to make sure of not losing the fourth and last Test match at the same venue to secure its berth.

 

The hero of the Sydney-save, the hero of the second Test in Chennai Ravichandran Ashwin went on with his outstanding spin bowling completing his 400 wickets in England’s second innings. He has achieved this feat of becoming only the second fastest bowler in world test cricket in his 77^thTest, beating Richard Hadley of New Zealand and Dale Steyn of South Africa both of whom took 80 Tests each to complete the capture of 400 wickets. Sri Lankan legend Muralitharan continues to enjoy the first position by capturing 400 wickets in 72 Tests.

 

Now questions are about how the pitch at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium is going to behave in the fourth and last test match between the two countries that starts from the 4^th of March 2021. The pitch has been having uneven bounce from the very first day helping the ball turn viciously and it has also been showing cracks or even breaking up at places. Is it the kind of pitch that befits the supposedly the largest and the most modern cricket stadium of the world or is it consciously tailormade for the Indian spinners? Is it going to be more unplayable? How are the curators and groundsmen going to make it ready for the fourth test?  Cricket experts justify it by saying that such a challenging pitch basically tests the application, techniques and the mindset of the players; however, a five-day test match not going beyond two days remains a concern. The first pink-test focused on grass-topped pitches which was a paradigm shift to develop the country’s promising fast bowlers; but the second pink-ball test seems to have put it back to square one. Only time would provide the answers.

Back To Roaring Cricket, India Vs England Pink-Ball Third Test Begins At The New Motera Stadium!

Finally, we are back to watching cricket of the roaring kind, meaning fans in thousands are there once more to cheer on their home team and favorite players. Well, it’s still half-capacity in view of the new normal times! But at the new world-class Motera cricket stadium in Ahmedabad half-capacity means a maximum of 55 thousand spectators which has to be considered mammoth under any circumstances. Allowing that big a crowd just when there has been an alert about a possible second wave of COVID-19 in the country is, however, another matter. Before we start describing the breath-taking stadium let us first narrate the story of the first day of the third Test between India and England.

 

The visitors seemed to have won a crucial toss, because the hosts have decided to play three spinners, taking in Washington Sundar again in place of Kuldeep Yadav and retaining Axar Patel with R Ashwin as the winning combination in the second Chennai Test. Selecting three spinners was against expectations. Faced with a brand-new pitch on a just-inaugurated stadium nobody really knew how the pitch would behave, and considering the ‘twilight swing’ possibility it was thought that three seamers would be preferred. Perhaps India took the decision looking at the dryness of the pitch that is totally without grass. England, on the other hand, has included four seamers bringing in now-fit Jofra Archer and James Anderson, and just one spinner in Jack Leach, Moeen Ali returning home. The other important change in the team is the coming back of veteran wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow.

 

This Test is crucial for both teams: India would qualify for the World Test Championship Final if they win this and win the series by winning or drawing the fourth test while England must win this and the next match also to qualify. The brand-new pitch seemed to be helping both seam and spin as Axar Patel, coming in to bowl early, extracted turn in the very first over taking the wicket of Bairstow. Eventually as the day progressed India’s focus on spin paid off with Axar registering his second consecutive fiver (an amazing 6/38) and Ashwin taking up three more wickets in his quest to complete 400 test wickets, in the process becoming the second fastest spinner to capture 400 scalps after Muralitharan who achieved this feat in just 72 tests. The duo combined again to skittle England all out for 112 in less than 50 overs, 48.4 overs to be exact with the lone half century from Crawley. 

At stumps on the first day India’s score was 99/3, trailing by just 13  runs, Rohit Sharma getting an unbeaten half century while India losing Shubman Gill for 11 and the sheet anchor Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck. At this stage India is set to take a good lead which may prove crucial. With Leach already getting 2 wickets England must ruing the lack of another spinner. However, India would have much liked to avoid losing skipper Virat Kohli in the last over of the day. 

 

Earlier, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, officially inaugurated the stadium, named Narendra Modi cricket stadium, with a bhoomi pujan (ritualistic worship of the site-God). He was accompanied by the union Home Minister, Amit Shah. The dignitaries stayed on for the match and were introduced to players of both the teams just before the start of the match. Indian seamer Ishant Sharma who is playing his 100^th test has been presented with mementos by the President. These had been lively moments with around fifty-thousand spectators watching and cheering from the eye-catchingly attractive and sprawling stands.  

 

Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera, a locality of the city of Ahmedabad, had been a known as the Motera ground for cricket, and matches of all formats had been played here since 1983 including important matches of the World Cups held in India. In 2015 it was decided to dismantle the stadium completely and construct a world-class cricket stadium as part of a sports complex. While the sports complex is to be called Sardar Patel Sports Enclave that includes the disciplines of hockey, basketball and others, the magnificent cricket ground has been named Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, to acknowledge the great contribution of the Prime Minister to develop sports and to his home state Gujarat.

 

With the start of the third test between India and England, the first match to be played in the new stadium, the Motera has officially become the largest cricket stadium of the world with an incredible capacity of 110 thousand spectators, beating Melbourne Cricket Ground that has 90 thousand capacity. This is also the first cricket stadium in the world to have four giant dressing rooms with gyms attached, and possibly the first one too to have LED lighting instead of the usual flood lights. It has all the modern facilities for the players of various disciplines including an Olympic-size swimming pool. There are also 76 corporate boxes that can house 25 people each. This stadium is set to have electrifying moments during the T20 World Cup, now scheduled to be held in India this October-November, with more than 110,000 people cheering, the pandemic permitting, of course.

The pitch has been behaving odd with uneven bounce, balls keeping low at times. It has also helped the spinners get turn from the word go. 13 wickets had fallen on the first day itself. The 'dew factor' is also coming into  play as the England bowlers were affected to some extent. Depending on how the game proceeds on the next two days, if at all the match does last three days, questions are bound to be raised on the pitch, also in view of the fact that one more test match is to be played here. 

Cricket: The First Ever Pink Ball Test A Superhit? And India’s Got Pacers!

Photo: indiatoday.in

Indian cricket fans crowding the Eden Gardens stadium reportedly encouraged Bangladesh players to try prolong the first ever Pink Test a little more; because it was all over in two days and 47 minutes frustrating the general expectation that the match would last at least three days. 45-60 thousand spectators thronged the stadium on the first two days each and even on the third morning when it was apparently clear that India would wrap up the match any moment more than 25000 were present. Such attendance is unprecedented for a five-day Test match ever played in India. Therefore, in terms of pulling people from all strata of society to the stadium the first ever D/N Pink Test is a superhit. However, in Kolkata, the Mecca of Indian Cricket with the famous Eden, enthusiastic crowds are always there for at least two kinds of sports—football and cricket. Given that, one cannot still take away the ‘superhit’ tag, and the fact that the match made Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President, the happiest person on earth whose decision it was to host the event and who said afterwards that more D/N Tests would be played across different centres in India, and if conditions are met India would definitely play Pink Ball Tests against Australia in Australia. A good beginning or history is thus made, and it seems to augur well for the classical format of the game.

The scenario is a little different in terms of competition. It was an overwhelmingly one-sided match in favor of India who registered their fourth consecutive innings victory—the 7^thTest win on the trot—and it was the shortest ever domestic Test played. India swamped Bangladesh 2-0 in the series, both being innings victories. This one-sidedness somewhat poured icy water on the hot suspense built over the behaviour of the pink ball. It’d take more competition to show its true colors; for example, a Pink Test against Australia or England or New Zealand would bring out the real test for the pink ball under floodlights in India. At the moment it can be said that the pink ball seems to be more lethal than the red ball when the ball is new. The much speculated ‘twilight’ behaviour of the pink ball is yet to be confirmed; India batsmen didn’t show any palpable discomfort during such a period and Bangladesh counterparts fared miserably in all sessions—day, twilight or night.

One redeeming feature of Indian cricket that has been emerging in the last 2 years or so gets highlighted again, and in view of this writer it could spell a paradigm shift of focus in near future. It’s, of course, the Indian pacers or genuine fast bowlers who have started taking more wickets even on Indian so-called slow pitches. The Pink Ball Test was played without the services of Jasprit Bumrah, considered to be the best, and yet he Indian pace-battery of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav destroyed Bangladesh in both the Tests sharing almost all the wickets between them. The second Test becomes the first ever domestic Test where the spinners failed to take a single wicket while in the first Test R Ashwin managed 5 wickets—2 in the first innings and 3 in the second. Ishant Sharma bagged the Player-of-the-Series award—a rare feat considering the fact that on most occasions the Indian class batsmen or spinners at times used to get the honors, and in spite of a brilliant Virat Kohli notching up his 27^th Test century in this particular match. Several international cricket experts have praised the Indian pace attack calling it the best at the moment. More significantly, green-top pitches are being prepared nowadays in India which sounds incredible considering the long-standing trend of preparing ‘turning’ pitches for domestic Test series. Sourav Ganguly who reportedly sat out of a Test against South Africa in Nagpur once when a green pitch emerged in spite of his specific instructions now promises to lead this ‘paradigm shift’. This augurs very well for Indian Cricket, and the already-bettered away performances stand to improve further.

Cricket—Balls Over The Years As Kolkata Gets Ready For The Pink Test!

While the game of cricket originated in England in the late 16^th century and developed globally from the 19^th century the red ball has been used traditionally—since at least the early 19^th century. International cricket matches have been played since 1844 and Test Cricket from 1877. The color change in cricket began only towards the late 20^th century; however, the traditional red ball has continued to be used till today—in test and first-class cricket matches or completions. With the changes in the format of the game the colors of the ball started changing along with the traditional white dress of the cricketers on the field becoming colored.

The ‘red’ became ‘white’ in 1977 when Karry Packer introduced World Series Cricket (WSC) in Australia—as a breakaway ‘commercial’ league. It also included colored clothing for different players from different teams, use of floodlights and white balls. The erstwhile ‘day’ one-day international (ODI) matches became day-night, and it was the visibility or sighting of the ball in the night that brought in the white ball which offers better vision for the batsman  and it is supposedly batter-friendly with less swing and seam than the red ball. The first ICC Cricket World Cup was played in 1975, but the real craze for the limited-overs one-day format began only after the WSC. Thanks to its ‘commercial’ success the white ball use became extensively official and nowadays even ‘day’ ODIs are played with the white ball. Problems associated with the white ball are mainly that it gets dirty pretty quick, and therefore sighting under lights becomes difficult. This problem was resolved with the introduction of two news balls per innings from either end.

The first ever experiment with the pink ball happened in England in 2009, and since then it has been used there and in Australia—of course, in a limited way. Soon afterwards, the pink ball was officially recommended for day-night Test matches. The first Pink Test was hosted by Australia against New Zealand in November, 2015 which the former won in three days with the pacers dominating the proceedings. Since then, cricket boards and players have been debating over its use, particularly in India. After Sourav Ganguly took over charge as President of the BCCI, the historic decision to host a Pink Test in India was taken.

So then, the first ever Test cricket match with the pink ball sets off from tomorrow, the 22^ndof November, 2019 at the majestic Eden Gardens, Kolkata between India and Bangladesh. Celebrities, political leaders, cricket experts and ex-players from across the globe are expected to take part in large numbers. The players from both the sides have started practicing under the Eden floodlights 3-4 days in advance. The two most excited persons on this venture are obviously—BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and India skipper Virat Kohli.

For the first time ever too, if this is healthy for Test Cricket or not only time can tell, a traditionally-quiet five-day Test match in India has become a tremendously hyped event. Lovers of the game are very curious to witness this historic beginning, and there are reports galore in the City of Joy that tickets for the huge stadium are in great scarcity and that tickets are being sold in the black market at astronomical prices. Numerous cricket fans are coming back utterly disappointed and frustrated after a futile search for tickets at the stadium offices. Complaints are afloat that tickets are being manipulated by cricket mandarins and there are even no proper notifications for online sale of tickets. Well, with the kind of cricket following in India, particularly in Kolkata, this is nothing but natural.

Eden Gardens...Ready!

Interestingly, people are looking for tickets only for the first three day-nights. Bangladesh, at the moment, looks to be down and out after India’s innings win in Indore in the first Test. With Indian pacers, Shami prominently, in top form, the much-touted green pitch at Eden Gardens may prove too much for the visitors without the services of Shakib and Tamim. Like the first pink test in 2015 most expect it to be over in three days, in India’s favor. General curiosity peaks anticipating the possible behavior of the pink ball under lights, during the twilight period, with the wintry dew and the scoring potential of the batsmen. Play is to begin at 1 pm daily with lunch break at 3; second session from 3.40 to 5.40 pm with a break for tea and the last session from 6 to 8 pm. Kolkata becomes dark just after 5 pm at the onset of the winter now.

All set...make way for the Pink...!