The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium in Rajkot will be renamed after former first-class cricketer and veteran administrator Niranjan Shah on eve of the third India-England Test which gets underway on February 15.
The ceremony is planned for the evening of February 14 and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah will unveil the new name – Niranjan Shah Stadium.
“Jay bhai Shah will unveil the new name and we have also sent out invites to senior BCCI officials for the ceremony. In a couple of days, we will have confirmations from all the dignitaries and office bearers we have invited,” says SCA secretary Himanshu Shah.
Both India and England players will have a practice session on the day of the planned ceremony and Shah is hopeful of having them in attendance for the unveiling.
“Can’t confirm this as of now but the invites will be sent and we hope the players can attend it too,” adds Shah.
The 79-year-old Niranjan played 12 First Class games for Saurashtra between 1965/66 and 1975/76 seasons and was SCA secretary for close to 40 years and has also occupied the BCCI secretary post in the past. He also served as chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in the past.
The proposal to rename the stadium was moved at the SCA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October last year and was accepted. Niranjan’s son Jaydev Shah, a domestic veteran who has also been part of multiple IPL teams in the past, is currently the President of the SCA.
The stadium at Khanderi first hosted an international game in 2013 when India took on England in ODI and hosted its first Test between the same teams three years later in 2016. The media box of the venue is the highlight as it is similar to the one at Lord’s in London.
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