On Tuesday Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) announced to rename Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi as Arun Jaitley Stadium. According to reports, a function will be held on September 12 where the renaming will be done. While the stadium will get a new name, the ground name will remain Feroz Shah Kotla.
Jaitley, a disciplined cricket administrator
Arun Jaitley was a famous politician with love for cricket to the core. He was an effective cricket administrator as well who passed away on August 24. He was the president of DDCA from 1999 to 2013. During his tenure at the stadium was renovated. A few steps were taken by him that changed the overall structure of DDCA that included an increase in the capacity of the stadium, construction of world-class dressing rooms at this stadium. Once he said, “I want Kotla to boast of a reputation of a Lord’s. It can be done. I want every spectator to be seated comfortably and every seat accounted for.”
Cricket in Delhi improved under the administration of Jaitley. After a gap of 16 years, Delhi won the Ranji Trophy in 2008. He was a believer of giving freedom the selectors to pick the team purely on merit. He went on to sack an entire selection committee for “unfairly” picking a player in 2006. The disciplined Jaitley brought new daw to Delhi cricket. Even cricketers like Virender Sehwag vouched for this.
Details of the function
In a fitting tribute, DDCA has decided to rename the stadium after Jaitley’s name. The function will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Home Minister Amit Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju are expected to present at the event. DDCA president Rajat Sharma said Jaitley’s support and encouragement was a key behind the success of players like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Rishabh Pant and many others. He added, “What can be better to have the stadium named after the man who rebuilt it under his presidentship.”
