Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and former captain of India, is “happy” to see the traditional format expand to other locations like Guwahati and Ranchi, but he would also love to stage as many Test matches as possible at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The BCCI announced last week that Team India’s home season for 2026–2027 will take place in Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi, and Ahmedabad from January 21 to February 25 of next year. Traditional locations like Kolkata and Mumbai will not host the major Border-Gavaskar Trophy versus Australia.
Ganguly responded to the action by saying that Eden Gardens has seen its fair share of games.
“It’s always great to have big Test matches back at Eden Gardens. As the president of the CAB and being a former player, I would like to host Test matches here, but we got the Test against South Africa, then there were T20 World Cup games and the Indian Premier League fixtures. As much as you would like to host matches at the Eden, it is important to understand that it has to go to other venues as well,” PTI quoted Ganguly as saying on Tuesday.
India’s home season in 2026–2027 is jam-packed with series against Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies in a variety of formats. Only white-ball games will be played in Kolkata and Mumbai.
However, Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, which hosted the West Indies in October of last season, is also returning as a venue, and Guwahati, which had its Test debut in November 2025, will host its second Test in just over a year.
While Eden Gardens held a Test against South Africa in November of last year, the Wankhede last hosted one in November of 2024. Delhi will host Sri Lanka for the first ODI this year on December 13, while Kolkata (January 3, 2027) and Mumbai (January 9, 2027) have been assigned ODIs against Zimbabwe. There are differing views regarding the alleged marginalization of traditional centres.
In his first reaction on the matter, the former president of the BCCI supported the Board’s decision to conduct Tests nationwide.
“…stadiums all around India are very good. I am so happy to see a Test match at Chennai, then there are matches at Guwahati and Ranchi, where the facilities are very good,” he asserted.
A reunion of the 2001 Test team at Eden Gardens is planned, according to Ganguly.
“Yes, we will have a reunion at the Eden. I was planning it (earlier this month), but it got delayed because of Sachin Tendulkar’s son’s wedding,” he said.
When Ganguly thought back on his tenure as captain, he ranked a number of Test wins higher than the renowned 2002 NatWest Trophy victory.
“I would rate my NatWest win on a much lower pedestal than Calcutta, Chennai (2001), Pakistan (2004), Headingley (2002), then Adelaide (2003),” he said. “Those were much better wins.”
“In Australia, they had got 400 on day one, and we still went on to win the Test on the fifth day,” he recalled.
On the Headingley Test in 2002, he said: “I played two spinners. Ian Botham was at the toss and asked me, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘Yes, I want my spinners to bowl last’.”
“Pakistan was the hardest place to tour. India had never won there before. To win Tests and one-dayers there was a fantastic achievement,” he added.
Recalling Virender Sehwag’s triple hundred in Multan, Ganguly said: “He told me he would hit a six on 94, 194 and 294. I told him, ‘when you get close to 300, take a single’. Triple hundreds don’t come often. He said no. And he still hit a six to get there.”
“We had won nine games in a row to reach the NatWest final. But Test cricket will always be special,” he added.
