Mumbai:
Mumbai cricket is so steeped in history, rich in legacy and bursting with achievers that honoring them all across the expanse of a cricket stadium is an enviable task. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has been doing the job with earnestness. Former India and Mumbai captain Ravi Shastri became the latest to have a stand named after him at the Wankhede stadium on Thursday.
Women’s cricket legend and former India captain Diana Edulji, Test stalwart, the late Dilip Sardesai and fielding sensation, the late Eknath Solkar also had gates named after them at a star-studded evening attended by, among others, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, and former greats Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar.
Gavaskar and Vijay Merchant were the first to have stands named after them when the stadium opened in 1974. Legends ranging from Merchant from the pre-Independence era to the still-in-action Rohit Sharma make the exhaustive list of names featured in the spectator stands.
While Gavaskar and Merchant’s names were carried forward to the refurbished stadium in 2011, the honours board also grew stronger as Mumbai cricket produced more blazing talent. Dilip Vengsarkar, the Lord of Lord’s, made the cut. The biggest addition came in 2001 with the Sachin Tendulkar stand. The only man in history with 100 international hundreds not only has a stand named after him but also a life-sized statue.
Gavaskar was a teammate to all the new (male) additions on the Wankhede honours board. He was the India captain when Shastri made his Test debut in 1981.
Shastri has worn many hats with elan. As a player, one of his finest afternoons came at the Wankhede while playing domestic cricket for Mumbai when he smacked Baroda’s Tilak Raj for six 6s in an over.
“I was already past 100 when Sunny (Gavaskar) sent a message saying, ‘we’re going to declare’. And I went in all guns blazing,” Shastri said, watched on by his mother, wife and daughter. “After the fourth six, I thought, let’s go for the full monty here. That sixth six went flat into the side screen. Whoever was watching from the Ravi Shastri stand there would have gotten the best view.”
“One of the best stories I have of the Wankhede was of a Ranji Trophy final,” he added. “The secretary of the Delhi Cricket Association Sunil Dev had announced ₹10,000 for the Delhi team if they won. One of their players Kirti Azad said as he walked by, ‘Let’s keep the trophy polished’. What happened the next day was history. We smashed Delhi. I told him to send the ₹10,000 across too.”
After his playing days, Shastri went on to be a successful head coach with the Indian team and is the most recognizable face in the commentary box. It is apt that the stand named after him is a level below the media box, where commentators mic up.
The gathering cracked up when Shastri, in his bombastic commentary style, lent voice to what he called his most favourite shot played at the stadium off Australian fast bowler Bruce Reid. “It’s Shastri on strike. Shastri goes big. It’s on the roof of the Ravi Shastri stand. It brings down a block from there. It’s six more, one of the biggest seen at the Wankhede,” he said.
