• Virat Kohli's birthday SPECIAL: CAB to hold grand show with 70,000 Kohli masks, cake, laser show at Eden Gardens

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    Virat Kohli's birthday SPECIAL: CAB to hold grand show with 70,000 Kohli masks, cake, laser show at Eden Gardens
    In addition to mask distribution, the CAB plans to present a memento to Kohli and hold a cake-cutting ceremony before the start of the game.

    Digital Desk: Star batter Virat Kohli will play South Africa at Eden Gardens on November 5. The match coincides with Kohli's 35th birthday. To celebrate the famous batter's birthday, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is organising a big celebration in Kolkata. 70,000 masks of the Indian superstar will be distributed to spectators by CAB, which is led by Snehasish Ganguly, the brother of cricket icon Sourav Ganguly.

    In addition to mask distribution, the CAB plans to present a memento to Kohli and hold a cake-cutting ceremony before the start of the game.

    "We're hoping the ICC will approve this. We want to make the day special for Virat," CAB President Snehasish Ganguly told PTI in Kolkata.

    “We want every fan in the stadium wearing Kohli masks as he walks in. We plan to distribute about 70,000 masks on that day,” he added on Monday.
    All of the tickets have been sold out well in advance, so the game is expected to be a full house.

    "We also plan to host a fireworks show during the mid-innings interval for Virat and the crowd. It will be our way of celebrating his birthday, and our way of saying that the entire Kolkata crowd is part of the celebrations. We are sure of a full house and everyone in the stands is a Virat fan. It is a gesture on behalf of all of them,” Snehasish added.

    When cricket great Sachin Tendulkar played his 199th Test match in Kolkata in November 2013, The Eden had arranged a similar function.

    Except for the most recent game against England on Sunday, Kohli has been riding high on the success of his exceptional performance so far. He was dismissed with a zero. With 354 runs in six games, Kohli is the sixth-highest run-scorer in this tournament, after South Africa's Quinton de Kock, Australia's David Warner, New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra, India's Rohit Sharma, and South Africa's Aiden Markram.
    India vs South Africa

    On November 5, India and South Africa will play in Kolkata's Eden Gardens. India and South Africa have played five matches against each other in previous ICC ODI World Cup games. India has only won two of these five games, whereas South Africa has three victories to their credit.