NEW DELHI - Objecting to Arun Jaitley's statue being installed there, Legendary Bishan Singh Bedi, India's former Cricket Captain,  has asked the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) to remove his name from the spectators' stand at the famous Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, his home ground in domestic cricket. He also resigned his membership with the Association. 

 

In an email to the DDCA, Bishan Singh Bedi said his decision was in response to news that the association had decided to erect a statue of Arun Jaitley, the former India Finance Minister and President of the association, at the stadium, which was hurriedly renamed after him following his death last year. Bishan Singh Bedi, after whom the stand at the venue was named in 2017, referred to what he called the "unsavory past" and nepotism of Jaitley's 14-year reign as DDCA president as the reason for his decision.

Bishan Singh Bedi's Letter: "Late Arun Jaitley I’m told was an able politician. So its the Parliament & not a cricket stadium which needs to remember him for posterity. He might have been a good cricket fan too, but his dillance with cricket administration was dubious & left much to desired. This is not a rhetorical assessment but a factual appraisal of his time at DDCA. Take my word, failures don’t need to be celebrated with plaques and busts. They need to be forgotten."

 

When one enters the Stadium, one can see stands dedicated to Mohinder Amarnath, Virat Kohli and a gate to Virender Sehwag and Anjum Chopra. There is also a Gautam Gambhir stand and a stand dedicated to former India spinner and Captain Bishan Singh Bedi. In a shocking update, Bishan Singh Bedi has written to the DDCA president Rohan Jaitley that his name should be removed from one of the stands at the Arun Jaitley stadium. In a letter which he wrote to the DDCA, Bishan Singh Bedi outlined the reasons for which he wanted his name to be removed from the Arun Jaitley stadium.

 

“After the Feroze Shah Kotla was named hurriedly and most undeservingly after Late Arun Jaitley my reaction then was maybe somehow good sense might prevail to keep Kotla sacrosanct. How wrong I was. Now I gather a statue of Late Arun Jaitley is going to be installed at the Kotla. I’m not at all enamored with the thought of a statue of Arun Jaitley coming up at Kotla.  I pride myself as a man of immense tolerance and patience..but all that I’m afraid is running out. DDCA has truly tested me and forced me to take this drastic action. So, Mr President I request you to remove my name from the stand named after me with immediate effect. Also, I hereby renounce my DDCA membership,” Bishan Singh Bedi wrote in the letter.

 

Further in the letter, Bishan Singh Bedi highlighted, "Late Arun Jaitley I’m told was an able politician. So its the Parliament & not a cricket stadium which needs to remember him for posterity. He might have been a good cricket fan too, but his dillance with cricket administration was dubious & left much to desired. This is not a rhetorical assessment but a factual appraisal of his time at DDCA. Take my word, failures don’t need to be celebrated with plaques and busts. They need to be forgotten."