India vs New Zealand 2016: Virat Kohli cuts special 500th Test cake in Kanpur

India's Test skipper Virat Kohli cut a specially customised cake as a part of the celebrations marking India's historic '500th Test'. India will play their first match against New Zealand on September 22 at Green Park in Kanpur in what will be their 500th Test.

The Indian squad members arrived in different segments for the Test match. The first ones to reach were Wriddhiman Saha, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja. They were followed by captain Virat Kohli along with openers Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and Umesh Yadav who arrived in the evening.

The visiting New Zealand squad will arrive on Monday.

All the Indian team members were accorded traditional welcome into the hotel. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who turned 30 celebrated his birthday along with the team-mates.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has already made elaborate arrangements to mark this auspicious occasion. They have already invited all former Test captains to Kanpur and will facilitate them on the day. Also, a specially minted coin with 500th Test embossed on it has been prepared and will be used for the toss.

“The BCCI wants to felicitate all the former captains during the Test match. Green Park is one of the first four Test venues in India along with Chepauk, Wankhede and Eden Gardens. It will be a fitting tribute to all those former captains, who could be present on the occasion. The BCCI is making all arrangements,” UPCA boss and BCCI secretary Rajiv Shukla said.

Apart from this BCCI and the UPCA are also preparing T-shirts with ‘500th Test’ written on it and will present them to the underprivileged children, who will be in attendance on all Test match days.

“Every day, there will be 2000 under-privileged school children, who would be watching their favourite stars in action. We have also made arrangements for physically challenged persons and kids from the orphanage, who would be attending the Test match,” Shukla further added.