Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Courtesy: SCA)

The regional association announced that the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Khanderi, Rajkot, will be renamed as Niranjan Shah Stadium on February 14. It will not be the first time that a cricket stadium will be named after an administrator as Chennai’s MA Chidambaram, Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy, Mohali’s IS Bindra, and Mumbai’s Wankhede were named after the ex-presidents of the BCCI.

Shah is renowned for serving the SCA as its secretary for four decades. He also held the post for the BCCI and has played 12 first-class games for Saurashtra from 1960-1970. His son, Jaydev, is currently serving as the president of the SCA.

The renaming ceremony will take place a day before the India vs England third Test in Rajkot. The SCA said 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.”

The tradition of renaming cricket stadiums after administrators is not new in India. Some of the stadiums are also named after the politicians, like the largest stadium in the world in Ahmedabad is named after the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi while the first PM of India Jawaharlal Nehru has nine stadium named after him.

Saurashtra has created a rich cricket heritage over the years — Ranjitsingh, after whom the Ranji Trophy is named, all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, Karsan Gharvi, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ravindra Jadeja — all hail from the region.