I Do Not Want My Name To Be Associated With The Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium: Bishan Singh Bedi

Former India spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi has demanded that his name be brought down from the stand in the Arun Jaitley Stadium – formerly known as Feroz Shah Kotla Ground – in Delhi with immediate effect.

Bedi is furious as well as upset by the fact that the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has decided to build a statue of the late DDCA President, Arun Jaitley. The former off-spinner reveals that DDCA is being run and managed poorly, and the decision of making a statue of Jaitley has made him ask the Association to remove the stands after his name.

Speaking to the news agency, ANI, Bishan Singh Bedi said, “I do not have to speak much, you have to speak to the DDCA. If they are adamant about getting the statue, then okay, I do not want my name to be associated with the stadium. Nothing wrong with that. Nobody is bothered in Delhi. DDCA is getting away with murder. I think this was the final nail in the coffin and I will not budge. I do not see the need to.”

The place of the administrators is in their glass cabins: Bishan Singh Bedi

In his letter to the DDCA, Bedi said that administrators should not be eulogized on the cricket field. Bedi pointed out that several overseas stadiums have idolized their former legendary cricketers whom youngsters look up to- not an administrator.

“It is WG Grace at Lord’s, Sir Jack Hobbs at the Oval, Sir Donald Bradman at the SCG, Sir Garfield Sobers at Barbados & Shane Warne of recent vintage at the MCG who adorn their cricket stadia with the Spirit of Cricket never out of place. So, when the kids walk into these stadiums these majestic statues busts enhance and enliven the inspiring stories of these past heroes that their elders tell them. Sporting arenas need sporting role models. The place of the administrators is in their glass cabins.”

The 74-year-old believes that the DDCA is in political turmoil and doesn’t want to be associated with a board where administrators are put on a pedestal higher than cricketers. Bedi also feels that he doesn’t need a stand after his name to carry his legacy, and would be remembered by fans for his on-field heroics and not a materialistic achievement such a stand.

“Since DDCA does not understand this universal cricket culture, I need to walk out of it. I cannot be part of a stadium that has got its priorities so grossly wrong and where administrators get precedence over the cricketers.

“Please bring down my name from the stand with immediate effect. You need not worry about me or my legacy. God Almighty has been very kind to me to keep me alive with my cricketing convictions. I do not wish my strength of character to be maligned by my silence or association to this unsporting act,” Bishan Singh Bedi wrote.

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