JOIN USSome of the country’s cricketing greats converged at the Green Park stadium to mark the occasion of India’s 500th Test match on Thursday.
The ceremony took place before the start of the first Test against New Zealand.
Former captains were felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), represented by its president Anurag Thakur, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Rajeev Shukla and Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik.
Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri were honoured along with Sourav Ganguly, Dillip Vengsarkar, K Srikkanth, Ajit Wadekar and Mohammad Azharuddin.
Among the women captains to be felicitated were Shantha Rangaswamy, Nilima Jogalekar, Diana Eduljee, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Pramila Bhat, Purnima Rao, Anju Jain, Anjum Chopra, Mamatha Maben, Mithali Raj, Harman Kaur. Jhulan Goswani and Chandrakanta were invited but couldn’t make it to the event.
“It was such a pleasant moment for women’s cricket. In the eyes of the public they (men players) are stars. To share the same platform with them was great. It was especially satisfying that the BCCI and the UPCA called all the women captains on this occasion. The men have played 500 Tests but I’ll be happy if I am around when the Indian women play their 100th Test,” said Shantha.
Anjum called it a “humbling experience” and hoped it would send a message to the women cricketers. “It is always an honour to be recognised by your Board. It felt nice to be a part of this journey. It also gave us an opportunity to interact with some stalwarts and legends of the game.”
All of them were presented with a memento, a specially minted silver coin with '500th Test' printed on it and a shawl.
DH News Service