Lucknow Stadium Renamed In Honour Of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ahead Of India-West Indies T20I
Dec 31, 2018 at 1:55 PM
Ahead of the second T20I between India and Windies, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday christened the Ekana International Cricket Stadium as “Bharat Ratan Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium”.
In August this year, Mr Vajpayee died at the age of 93. He was one of the country’s most respected politicians and became Prime Minister thrice. His birthday — December 25 — is celebrated as Good Governance Day. Mr Vajpayee was a member of the Indian Parliament for over four decades.
Meanwhile, UP Governor Ram Naik has approved the government proposal to rename the Stadium. Orders were issued for the change of name by Principal Secretary (Housing) Nitin Ramesh Gokaran late on Monday.
Officials of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) informed that the clause 17.5.1 of the agreement between Ekana Sports City Private Ltd, GC Constructions and Development Industries Pvt Ltd and the LDA says that the stadium will be named after the project is completed.
The state government used the powers vested in it as per this clause, on the eve of the high-decibel match, and changed its name in the memory of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away in August this year.
India look to seal series:
With form and momentum on their side, India will be looking to seal the series in Lucknow. India thrashed Windies by 5 wickets in the first T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Rohit Sharma’s decision to bowl first turned out to be spot on. Led by Kuldeep Yadav’s three-wicket haul, India restricted the visitors for just 109 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs. Windies, however, were not ready to throw in the towel yet as they made the match out of it. India lost both of their openers for just 16 runs on the board. They soon found themselves 4 down for 45.
But Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey all but sealed the game with a 38-run stand before the latter departed. Karthik and debutant Krunal Pandya then took the team home inside 18 overs.
The momentum is pretty much with India and the Men in Blue will be looking to make the most of it.
Both the teams, meanwhile, arrived in Lucknow on Monday to a rousing welcome. The stadium is holding its first-ever international game while Lucknow is hosting an international cricket match after 24 long years.