Boria Majumdar
By the time my readers go through this piece, I will be on my way to the Eden Gardens. We will start our pre-show at 8:30am every day, and early-morning Kolkata in November is the best time to be in the city. To see happy faces walking up to the stadium, talking cricket and buying some fruits and biscuits on the way, takes me back years, to when I used to request my father to please try and get me a ticket to go and watch the game. You will see very familiar figures outside the stadium. You will see our logens mashi (the lady who sells candies), you will see the jhal muri man and a lot more people you have forever associated with the maidan. A Test match brings all of us together for five straight days.
Unlike a T20 match or an ODI, red-ball cricket still has that special aura for me. This is the only format where a maiden over could well be the most exciting. When no action is also action. It is not just about the fours or the sixes. It is also about defensive technique and leaving balls outside off stump. For RevSportz, we have planned the most elaborate coverage. Kolkata is our home base and it is natural that we would have a very strong all-round plan for the Test match. The English coverage will be led by Shamik Chakrabarty and Gargi Raut, with Ashok Namboodiri and I joining them for the shows. Shamik has flown in from Mumbai and Gargi from Delhi, with both wanting to do the Test match. Ashok too has joined us from Dubai this morning, and it will be a very strong English team from outside Eden Gardens.
For Bangla too, we have an elaborate plan. Debasis Sen will lead the coverage with Agni joining in every morning from Eden Gardens. Trisha Ghosal and Snehasis Mukherjee will be there everyday to add depth and statistical insights, and Mohor Chaudhuri and Shourjyani Chatterjee, our two new reporters, will focus on the mood and the atmosphere. The reportage will be holistic and all round.
Hindi will be fronted by Subhayan Chakraborty, with Rohit Juglan joining him from Delhi. I will also step in, and our friend Amit Shah, who has flown in from Mumbai, will add to the coverage with his analysis.
In sum, it is not just about the action inside. It is also about the crowd, the fanfare, the craze, the food and the whole ecosystem of a Test match. That’s what will bring the game alive for our viewers, and that’s what we will try and do over the next few days. And yes, we will be critical if India don’t do well. And praise the players if they perform to potential. We will call it as we see it, and do so with passion and integrity.
Do join us every morning at 8:30am and let’s do this together. A Test match at Eden Gardens after six years is an occasion to live up to.
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