Chandigarh: UTCA wants Sec 16 stadium to be named after Kapil Dev

Tribune News Service

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, August 3

The Union Territory Cricket Association (UTCA), Chandigarh, wants the government-owned Sector 16 cricket stadium to be named after India’s first 1983 cricket World Cup winning captain and living legend Kapil Dev.

On Wednesday, a UTCA delegation, led by its president Sanjay Tandon and some working as well as former officials, met Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit. The delegation members submitted a memorandum to him to change the name of the Sector 16 stadium as “Kapil Dev Cricket Stadium”.

Interestingly, the proposal didn’t mention anything on Desh Prem Azad, nation’s first cricket coach to be conferred with the Dronacharya Award in 1986 or any other international cricketer from Chandigarh.

Azad, who is credited with coaching a host of cricketers like Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ashok Malhotra, Yuvraj Singh and several others, coached at the Sector 16 stadium from 1965 till 1997. He was also associated with the SAI’s academy at the same stadium for several years.

“Even Azad sir wrote several letters to name the stadium after Kapil Dev, but it was refused due to technical reasons. The stadium should be named after Kapil sir. However, some pavilions should be named after other achievers from the city,” said a former cricketer.

Kapil, who is also a member of the UTCA, had started his career at the Sector 16 stadium and had trained under DP Azad.

The UTCA, meanwhile, claimed that the proposal was welcomed by the UT Administrator. “He (the Administrator) said Dev is the synonym of the Indian cricket and he needs no introduction. He assured the UTCA that he will talk to the authorities concerned and help them in bringing this proposal to fruition,” stated a release.

During his visit to Chandigarh in December last year, Dev had cleared that he had nothing to do with the UTCA’s take on naming the stadium after him. Apart from Tandon, the UTCA delegation included former cricketers Rakesh Jolly, Subhash Mahajan, MP Singh, Daniel Banerjee, Vineet Jain, Rajiv Nayar, Virendra Chopra and office-bearers Hari Singh Khurana, Anup Gupta, Yuvraj Mahajan and Devendra Sharma. Interestingly, the UTCA, which doesn’t own the Sector 16 stadium, approached the UT Administration to start the process on its behalf.

Will open way for

other stadiums?

If approved, the proposal will open ways to name other stadiums, which are also under the UT Administration, after other achievers. Former international sprinter ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh; Nirmal Milkha Singh, former captain of the Indian volleyball team and Director Sports, UT Administration; hockey’s triple Olympian and gold medallist Balbir Singh (senior); Olympics gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, who is also a part of the Administrator’s Advisory Council; Harjinder Singh, former international star and the man behind producing world-class players from Chandigarh’s state-run football academy; Shiv Singh, Dronacharya Award-winner boxing coach, who is currently in the panel of making Chandigarh’s sports policy; Chandigarh-born hockey star Sukhbir Singh Gill, who played over 120 matches for the nation; Arjuna Award-recipient and Chandigarh-born Indian footballer Sandesh Jhingan and several others are to name a few. Interestingly, the

UTCA president is also the chairman of the Sports Committee of the Administrator’s Advisory Council.

Proposal welcomed by purohit

The Union Territory Cricket Association (UTCA), Chandigarh, meanwhile, claimed that the proposal was welcomed by the UT Administrator. “He (the Administrator) said Dev is the synonym of the Indian cricket and he needs no introduction. He assured the UTCA that he will talk to the authorities concerned and help them in bringing this proposal to fruition,” stated a release.

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