Ravi Shastri Gets His Due At The Wankhede Stadium

Ravi Shastri has got his due from the Mumbai Cricket Association. A stand — fittingly below the Press Box at the Wankhede Stadium — has been dedicated to him. The terrific allrounder who did many wonderful things on the field with the bat and ball in India and overseas, and sported the MCA crest with pride, ought to have been bestowed the honour many years ago. A backbone of the MCA team for one and a half decades, the beanpole tall allrounder finished off his Ranji Trophy career as a victorious captain against Bengal in the 1993-94 final at the Big W, where he had clouted Baroda left arm spinner Tilak Raj for six 6s in over — all shot by Free Press Journal’s Thomas Rocha and run by The Hindu. The winner of the Prudential World Cup winner at the Lord’s in 1983 and the Champion of Champions and Audi winner in the B & H World Championship of Cricket at the MCG Bowl in March 1985, he carved a niche for himself as a genuine allrounder in Tests (80 Tests, 3830 runs, 11 x 100s with a 206 against Australia as the highest at Sydney in 1992 and 151 wickets) and ODIS (128 matches, 3108 runs and 129 wickets). For Bombay (Mumbai) he played in 41 FC matches and (2571 runs at 54 + and 130 wickets). He has worn virtually every hat since bidding adieu to the game and excelled with his “tracer bullet” commentary for over three decades, spent valuable time in the Indian dressing room (as mentor/head coach). He ticks many cricketing boxes, including his undertaking for the MCA which felt it was the right time to name a stand at the North side for his four and a half decades of meaningful contribution to cricket!