IND v SL: Kolkata's time zone might affect the 1st Test at Eden Gardens

The start of the India v Sri Lanka Test series might test the patience of cricket fans as the venue for the first Test, Eden Gardens in Kolkata is under the threat of rain. Ahead of the game, the ground was under covers as it rained almost for the entire day. However, this game will have to challenge another natural occurrence, the fading light towards the end of the day. The sun sets early in Kolkata since it is in the eastern part of India and with winter approaching the days are even shorter.

With play scheduled to start at the normal timing of 9:30 AM IST, full 90 overs of play in a day might not be possible given the light levels start deteriorating from 4 PM IST in Kolkata. Even if the rain doesn’t trouble the game, there is a substantial chance that the number of overs played will be affected due to bad light. Even during the Test between India and New Zealand last year, bad light had a say whenever the game went into the extra half an hour and rain too made its presence in short intervals.

Pushing the time ahead

Kolkata hosted five Test matches between 2007 and 2013 and all of them were 9:00 AM IST starts. Despite the early start, the India-Pakistan Test in 2007 lost a couple of overs each day while the 2012 Test between India-England had full 90 overs of the play. India defeated West Indies in 2011 and 2013 by an innings margin which lasted less than four days as weather condition didn’t have a say during play.

However, the Test match between India and South Africa in 2010 was affected by rain and India had to race against light to register a famous win in the dying minutes of the game. Nearly 25 overs were lost on the first three days due to bad light in that game despite the fact that it started at 9:00 AM IST while rain cut down the overs on the last two days.