Feroz Shah Kotla stadium to be renamed today, some lesser known facts about cricket ground
Feroz Shah Kotla stadium to be renamed today, some lesser known facts about cricket ground
Feroz Shah Kotla cricket ground will be renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium and ceremony will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium today. The ruling to rename the stadium was put forth by the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) on 27th August, 2019 in order to pay respect to the late BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley who passed away on 24th August, 2019.
The Chief Guest for the ceremony will be Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley’s family members and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju will also be there at the ceremony to celebrate Arun Jaitley’s contribution as a former DDCA president. DDCA further confirmed that the stadium will continue to be known as the Feroz Shah Kotla.
As per the DDCA president Rajat Sharma, it was because of Arun Jaitley that players like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra came out and made the nation proud. During his term, the stadium was restored with modern facilities.
Some lesser known facts about Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium:
1) The stadium was established in 1883. it is the second oldest international cricket stadium after Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
2) Before, Feroz Shah Kotla Stadum was known as Wellington Pavillion.
3) The name of the stadium was given after the Emperor of Delhi, Feroz Shah Tughlaq, who ruled from 1351-1388.
4) During British rule, Britishers built Wellington Pavillion to play cricket.
5) In 1948, the first Test match was played between India and West Indies in the Stadium.
6) In 1999, a record was set by Anil Kumble in a single Test innings by claiming 10 wickets at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
7) Sunil Gavaskar scored his 29th hundred to equal Don Bradman’s record of highest numbers of Test centuries .