Special to play at Wankhede now: Rohit
Mumbai, May 17 -- Mumbai Cricket Association bestowed the ultimate honour on T20 World Cup winning captain Rohit Sharma by naming a stand at the Wankhede Stadium after him on Friday. Speaking at the ceremony hosted by the MCA to unveil his name on the upper tier of the Divecha Pavilion, Rohit said it will be a "special feeling" for him when he next plays at his home ground.
"I am still playing (in the ODIs) and retired from two formats. It will be surreal when I play on May 21st (for Mumbai Indians in IPL) and have a stand here. It will be special when I represent the country here," said Rohit.
The 38-year-old retired from T20Is after leading India to the World Cup trophy last year and announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 7.
"I had never dreamt of what was going to happen today. You try to achieve a lot of milestones, but something like this is really special, because Wankhede is an iconic stadium and so many memories have been made here," said Rohit. "To have my name here with the greats of the game, I cannot express the feeling. I am super grateful."
A plaque featuring the image of the stand was also presented to Rohit and his family in front of his IPL teammates.
Rohit has won two ICC Champions Trophy titles and T20 World Cup titles, one each as a captain.
MCA also named a stand each after former India skipper late Ajit Wadekar and ex-BCCI president Sharad Pawar at the ceremony attended by former India captains Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri, as well as former India women's captain Diana Edulji.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who unveiled the stands, said Mumbai needs a bigger stadium with a capacity of a lakh. He also added that his government will allot the land if the MCA sends a proposal for a new stadium.
"If there is a proposal from MCA for a new stadium, we will allot space for that to accommodate more fans," said Fadnavis while praising the contribution of Rohit and Wadekar.
Fadnavis said it will be ideal to have the new stadium ready in four years time to mark MCA's centennial anniversary.
On their part, one of the sites proposed by the MCA for the new stadium is in Amane, near Thane, said MCA President Ajinkya Naik. "Amane is one of the options. It is up to the state government, if the state government allots some other suitable land for the stadium, that is also fine," said Naik.
The MCA Office Lounge was dedicated in memory of former President late Amol Kale was also inaugurated.
Wadekar's wife, Rekha, expressed deep appreciation for the tribute. "Though he got the honour slightly late, but this is a great reward for him," Rekha Wadekar said....
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