Rajkot, Feb. 12 -- The next time Yashasvi Jaiswal lofts Tom Hartley over the mid-wicket boundary in the series, it will be at the Niranjan Shah stadium. On February 14, a day before the third Test match, the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium will be renamed after Niranjan Shah, the long-serving affable administrator, who gets an advance birthday present before he enters the octogenarian club in June.

Having cricket stadiums named after administrators is not rare in India. But Shah's case is unique because he made it without political patronage. Belonging to a Gujarati family, who were into newspaper publishing, he rose through the ranks due to his administrative skills. He also went on to play 12 first-class matches between 19...