Anil Kumble, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Sunday, will be felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India
NAGPUR: Anil Kumble, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Sunday, will be felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly in Nagpur on Thursday, the first day of the fourth and final Test against Australia.
“Kumble will be honoured with Tendulkar, Laxman, and Ganguly,” BCCI and Vidarbha Cricket Association president Shashank Manohar said at the VCA’s newly built 45,000 capacity stadium at Jamtha on the Nagpur-Hyderabad highway.
Manohar, who was overseeing preparations at the new stadium 16km from the heart of the city, said the players would be given BCCI mementoes.
On Kumble’s retirement and the forthcoming farewell by former captain Sourav Ganguly, Manohar said it was not easy to find replacement for greats. “Greats are not born every day,” he said, “otherwise, they would not be greats. The onus is on the selectors to find the replacements.”
Manohar did not subscribe to the view expressed in some quarters recently that crowds stayed away from the Test series because of lack of proper facilities at stadia. He said fans thronged the same venues for the Indian Premier League ties in April-May this year.
The BCCI chief said it was not surprising that crowds don’t pack the stands for Test matches like they used to. “In those days there would be one Test at a venue in one or two years and there was no television coverage,” he said.
Manohar said there were plans to erect floodlights at the new stadium after the end of the Test. The wicket for the match appeared to be bereft of grass, a total contrast to the grassy track on which Australia defeated India by a huge margin at the old VCA stadium four years ago.
According to VCA sources, the brick-based newly laid wicket is expected to offer modest bounce and be slow paced. Meanwhile, VCA officials said ticket sales for the match, the decider in the four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, have been lukewarm. India are leading 1-0 in the rubber by winning the second Test at Mohali by 320 runs. The first and third Tests at Bangalore and Delhi were drawn.
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