The Eden Gardens Has Given Many Beautiful Moments For Indian Cricket

Once a cricket fan arrives in Dominique Lapierre’s “City of Joy” for the first time, he or she quickly connects to the visuals of the famous Eden Gardens at Gostho Paul Sarani – a locality named after Bengal’s legendary football player. The great “Eden” has changed a lot. Today you see huge portraits of Jhulan Goswami-Sourav Ganguly adorning the front wall above the nameplate the Cricket Association of Bengal. There is another huge frame of Jagmohan Dalmiya and Ganguly as one enters the main gate to the charming cricket venue. From November 14 the Indian team will take the field against South Africa in flannels in a five-day Test match which will be the 43rd at the venue. India has played three already here against South Africa from 1996, winning two in 2004 and 2010. This is also the where Rahul Dravid (180) and Venkatsai Laxman (281) turned the match on its head against Steve Waugh’s Australia. That magic happened a little over 25 years ago, but still talked about with great thrill. The Eden has given many beautiful moments for Indian cricket. It is one of the five permanent Test centres, and in the past, always getting the new year Test. But more Test centres have been added, and Kolkata has had to wait for six years to be allotted a Test match. The Eden is also known for honouring famous people – the names of Pankaj Roy, Sourav Ganguly and Jhulan Goswami, former BCCI administrators Jagmohan Dalmiya and BN Dutt and four from the Armed Forces in Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair, Havildar Hangpan Dada, Lieutenant Colonel Dhan Singh Thapa, and Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan given to stands. For many reasons, the Eden Gardens is a fascinating venue.