On Tuesday, the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) announced that it would rename its home venue in Khanderi, Rajkot, as the Niranjan Shah Stadium on February 14, a day before India and England take the field there for the third Test of the ongoing five-match series.
Having played 12 first-class games for Saurashtra in the 1960s and the 70s, Shah is more renowned for having served as SCA secretary for almost four decades. He also held the post at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Niranjan’s son Jaydev is the current president of the SCA.
Other BCCI officials to have a cricket stadium named after them are: MA Chidambaram (Chennai), M Chinnaswamy (Bengaluru), IS Bindra (Mohali) and Wankhede (Mumbai).
In India, there are many examples of cricket stadiums being christened after administrators, and even politicians — the 1,32,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad being the biggest. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru has nine stadiums named after him across the country — eight of which have hosted domestic or international cricket fixtures.
Crowd during ICC Men’s cricket world cup final match between India and Australia at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Not just politicians and officials though, even music maestros have had stadiums named after them —Guwahati’s Dr Bhupen Hazarika Cricket Stadium and Delhi’s multi-purpose Thyagaraj Stadium, dedicated to Carnatic composer Tyagaraja.
There are stadiums named after personalities from other sports too. In hockey, KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium and Captain Roop Singh Stadium have been bestowed with the honour in their home towns of Lucknow and Gwalior while Major Dhyan Chand has stadiums named after him in Delhi and Lucknow. The Bhaichung Stadium in Namchi, Sikkim is dedicated to the former India football captain.
While it’s a common practice elsewhere in the world to name stadiums after former cricketers — Bradman Oval, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, to name a few – in India, the norm is to name stands and gates at stadiums after players rather than the venue itself.
The Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital — named after the former Finance Minister of India and Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President — has gates named after Virender Sehwag and Anjum Chopra, and stands after Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, all of whom played cricket for both India and Delhi.
Elaborating on the announcement made of the Rajkot Stadium being rechristened after the former administrator, the SCA stated in a press release, “Most significant and valued contribution of Shri Niranjan Shah to the cricket of the region as well as at National and International levels must be very befittingly well acknowledged.”
Saurashtra has a rich cricketing heritage: Ranjitsinhji, from whom the Ranji Trophy gets its name, to one of India’s greatest all-rounders Vinoo Mankad, Karsan Ghavri – the first Indian pacer to nab 100 Test wickets — to current day stars Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja.