India’s 500 Test was celebrated in a grand manner by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The Indian team has now become only the fourth nation to play 500 or more Tests. And to make the occasion a memorable one, the BCCI held a function on the eve of the first Test against New Zealand. The board decided to felicitate the former Indian captains before the commencement of the first Test. The former Indian captains that were felicitated were Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, M.S. Dhoni and Kapil Dev. On the occasion, Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik honoured the stalwarts with mementoes and shawl. Besides Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Dhoni and Kapil, the other former players who were honoured were Ajit Wadekar, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, Anil Kumble, K Srikkanth and Mohammad Azharuddin.
However, there were some notable absentees at the ceremony like Rahul Dravid, Bishan Singh Bedi and a few more. Here we are revealing the reasons due to which the stalwarts missed the historic moment.
Rahul Dravid:
The legendary batsman captained India in 25 Tests. He won 8 of them and ended on the losing side on 6 occasions. The remaining 6 matches ended in a draw.
One of the best Test players of the country, Dravid could not attend the ceremony because he was busy with the India A team which was in Australia for a quadrangular ODI series followed by a Test series with the hosts.