After honouring Virender Sehwag, DDCA rolls out red carpet for Delhi legends

Photo: Twitter

New Delhi: Having started the tradition of honouring stalwarts with the 'Virender Sehwag Gate', the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) now will name stands at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium after legends Bishan Singh Bedi and Mohinder Amarnath.

The move is DDCA's way of acknowledging the contribution of Bedi and Amarnath to Indian cricket as well as state cricket. There will also be a Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi 'Hall of Fame' at the iconic ground.

In a statement, DDCA administrator Justice Vikramjit Sen confirmed that Bedi and Amarnath will be honoured at the first-ever DDCA Annual Conclave on November 29. Bedi, a longtime critic of the controversy-ridden DDCA, will also be the keynote speaker at the Conclave.

Earlier this month, a gate at the Kotla was named after former India opener Sehwag and now it has been decided that another gate will be named after former women's team skipper Anjum Chopra.

In a mutual agreement with DDCA Honours' Committee and Sen, a benchmark of 35 Tests has been set for a Delhi cricketer to be honoured by the state association.

"Accordingly, the likes of Chetan Chauhan, Madan Lal, Maninder Singh, Manoj Prabhakar and others in the list should also be accorded this honour as per the criteria, in due course," said Sen.

The dressing room of the home team will now be known as the Raman Lamba Dressing Room, in memory of the late cricketer, while the visiting team dressing room will be named after Prakash Bhandari, the first Test cricketer from Delhi.

"Active cricketers like Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan should be honoured after they have retired from the game," read the statement further.

The DDCA will also honour noted coaches Gurcharan Singh and Tarak Sinha.