On Thursday, the Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium was renamed after former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who passed away last month. The renaming ceremony took place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium’s Weightlifting Auditorium. Jaitley had served as the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) President from 1999 to 2013.
However, the Feroz Shah Kotla ground’s name will stay the same.
In the same function, a new pavilion stand at Delhi’s historic stadium was named after Team India skipper Virat Kohli.
After the stand was virtually unveiled, Kohli gave a heartfelt thanks to the DDCA, his teammates and his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma. While expressing gratitude to his family, the 30-year-old recalled an incident, when he had gone to watch an India versus Zimbabwe Test match with his brother at the iconic venue in 2001.
“When I left home today, I told my family one anecdote…I remember getting a ticket to watch a game in 2001 at the stadium and asking for autographs from players… So today to have a pavilion in my name at the same stadium is surreal and a great honour,” the Indian run-machine said.
Earlier before his demise, Arun Jaitley had called Virat Kohli the best batsman in the world.
“When I decided to name a stand in honour of Virat Kohli, I told this first to Arun Jaitley ji. He told me this is a good decision because there is no better player than Virat in world cricket,” Rajat Sharma revealed during the event.
@delhi_cricket president @RajatSharmaLive on #DDCAAnnualAwards2019: When I decided to name a stand in honour of Virat Kohli, I told this first to Arun Jaitleyji. He told me this is a good decision because there is no better player than Virat in world cricket.
— DDCA (@delhi_cricket) September 12, 2019
