Tendulkar gets his name on the stand of Brian Lara cricket stadium
Getty Images
Sachin Tendulkar will have his name on the North-West stand of the newly constructed Brian Lara cricket stadium. This move hasn't gone down well with some members of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board who feel it would be more appropriate to name it after a West Indian legend rather than Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most runs, most centuries and the most number of matches played in Test cricket and it comes as no surprise that he will have his name written across a stand in the stadium named after Brian Lara. Tendulkar and Lara were compared throughout their careers for both had some outstanding records to their name. Lara holds the record for the most test runs in an innings with his score of 400 and the highest individual score, in any format of the game, of 501. It was natural that both the batsmen were always in the run for the best batsman in the world.
This move, however, has been questioned by the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board president Azim Bassarath, who is convinced that the stand needs to commemorate a player who has made a contribution to West Indies cricket.
He said,"India have so many stadia and I don't know any of them have stands named after any of our West Indian greats so why must we name a stand after Tendulkar. I thought there would be stands named after Ian Bishop or Larry Gomes or Gus Logie or even the late
Bassarath stated that he was concerned that the TTCB had not been consulted on operations regarding the Brian Lara stadium and it was also surprising to him that a separate board was being set up for running the stadium.
Michael Phillips, the chairman of The Sports Company of T&T came out against the TTCB's president.Â
He said,"Our decision to name the stand after Mr Tendulkar was done on the advice of
Phillips added that it was one of the reasons they were able to convince Tendulkar to play the opening game in the stadium on 13th of May, 2017 that would feature various local, regional and international players.
He said,"We have no intentions of running cricket. The fact is any organisation can set up a cricket academy or provide training for cricketers so we are not usurping the functions of the TTCB. " in relevance to Bassarath's surprise at the formation of a separate board.
He further added,"What I will say is if you look at many of the sporting bodies in T&T you realise there is a greater need for balance and there are times when they are accused of having
Phillips revealed that the stadium might facilitate in-house dorms and the plan is under consideration. The academy is to be marketed locally and globally with academic and cricketing programmes.
Did you know Sachin Tendulkar has more five wicket hauls than Shane Warne in ODIs.
For more fun stats and predictions play the newest fantasy-cum-predictions game in the market – Nostragamus. Download the game by tapping here.
