Former Indian skippers felicitated prior to start of 500th Test

As promised earlier, the former Indian skippers of the Indian cricket team were felicitated prior to the start of the 500th Test match involving India and New Zealand. Rajiv Shukla, the president of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association as well as the president of the Board Mr. Anurag Thakur were present on the podium for the same.

Dilip Vengsarkar was among the first players to be felicitated with the shawl and the memento. He was followed by 1983 winning skipper Kapil Dev who has seemingly mended his fences with the Board after several and repeated fall-outs. Kapil’s teammate in the 1983 World Cup, Krishnamachari Srikanth was also in attendance for the same.

On this day in 1986, Ravi Shastri was one of the key members in that invigorating tied Test match at Chepauk in Madras against Allan Border’s Australia. Apart from being a prominent part of the Indian commentary box, Shastri was also handed the memento and the shawl. Akhilesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh was also present as a prominent part of the panel of guests present.

With the conclusion of Shastri’s presentation, the new wave of Indian players was felicitated. This included the captains who represented the Indian cricket team in the recent past. Having had his well-documented issues with the Board and its affiliate members in the recent past, Mohammad Azharuddin was one of the first to walk up on stage.

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With all smiles on the faces of both Anurag Thakur and Rajiv Shukla, it would seem as though the fences of attrition have seemingly been mended. Sourav Ganguly, the ‘renaissance man’ of Indian cricket of sorts too received his memento for his contribution to Indian cricket. MS Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket in the fall of 2014 was also among those felicitated.

Last but not least was skipper Anil Kumble who made his way to the podium in his track suit with the Indian logo across his chest.