Star batter Virat Kohli is going to play at the iconic Eden Gardens on November 5 against South Africa and that ODI World Cup 2023 match coincides with the former India captain’s 35th birthday.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), headed by cricket legend Sourav Ganguly’s brother, Snehasish Ganguly, have big plans to make the special day memorable for Virat.
As per reports, CAB will be distributing 70,000 masks of the Indian superstar among the spectators who will come to see the match in Kolkata. Apart from distributing masks, the organisers have also planned to have a cake-cutting ceremony before the start of the match and felicitate Kohli with a memento.
Before that match, Pakistan team is playing at the same venue in Kolkata against Bangladesh and Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan wished a happy birthday to Kohli in advance.
“It is nice to know that his birthday is on the 5th of November. Wish him all the best and a happy birthday, though I don’t celebrate mine and I don’t believe in that. Wishing a great one to Virat. I hope he can get his 49th ODI hundred on his birthday. And I wish him that He could also get his 50th ODI century in this World Cup,” Rizwan told India Today ahead of his team’s match.
While India have won six of their matches, Pakistan haven’t been able to perform upto the expectations, having lost their last four games in the tournament.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan. His team made one change to the side that fell short against the Dutch – Mahedi Hasan was replaced by Tawhid Hridoy.
Pakistan, on the other hand, went in with three changes as Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha and Usama Mir were in for Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan.