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Cricket PlayersMCA member requests restoration of Gavaskar’s seats at Garware Pavilion as a birthday present to the cricket legend
Gavaskar confirmed that the Mumbai Cricket Association had allocated two seats each to him, the late JRD Tata and Lata Mangeshkarji on the front row of the Garware Pavilion. This was before the renovation converted the wooden benches to bucket seats that we see now.
A request has been made to correct the Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) oversight of taking away the honour of allocating two permanent seats to one of Mumbai cricket’s most famous sons, Sunil Gavaskar, at the Wankhede’s Garware Pavilion.
Two fixed seats with Mr and Mrs Gavaskar’s names on it were allotted by the MCA at the Garware Pavilion to honour him at the time of his retirement. However, it became one of the major casualties of the renovation work at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of the 2011 World Cup. The two seats were not restored after the seating arrangement was changed from cushioned wooden planks to bucket seats.
“Yes, that’s correct. The Mumbai Cricket Association had allocated two seats each to the late JRD Tata, Lata Mangeshkarji and myself on the front row of the Garware Pavilion. This was before the renovation converted the wooden benches to bucket seats that we see now,” Gavasakar confirmed.
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The names of the three legends were inscribed in blue letters on their seats, an MCA member said.
MCA Apex Council member Nadim Memon has taken up the matter with the committee members and has written a letter requesting restoration of the two seats in the name of Gavaskar. “I request the MCA Apex Council members to restore the two seats to him in our President’s box,” Memon said in the letter. He wants the MCA to present it to Gavaskar on his 71st birthday on July 10.
Gavaskar, who has a stand named after him at his homeground, was the first batsman to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket and set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any batsman.
