BCCI president Saurav Ganguly, Shekhar Dhawan with Gautam Gambhir were among the attendees.
Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Monday (December 28) unveiled the statue of its former president and former union minister late Arun Jaitley at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi, India.
Jaitley, who died last year due to multiple health issues, had served as DDCA President for 13 years apart from being a reputed political figure as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. He was also handling the defense department of the Indian government.
On Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled the life-size statue of Padma Vibhushan awardee Jaitley at the DDCA premises in the presence of several cricket fraternities in Delhi.
The statue was prepared by 96-year-old renowned sculptor Ram Sutar, the man behind the making of the iconic Statue of Unity at the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat, India.
On the occasion, former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, current BCCI president Saurav Ganguly, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, India opener Shikhar Dhawan, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, and Union Minister Hardeep Puri were present at the unveiling ceremony.
The BCCI secretary said while paying tribute to Jaitley “Arun was like an elder brother to me. He was known for his sportsmanship spirit in the political circle. He remained aggressive in his speeches but never lowered the dignity of the Parliament.”
Shah further added, “Arun always put his own interest at the back, never sought publicity and rose during the Emergency days when he spent 19 months in jail. His political journey started then. He was multi-talented and fulfilled a range of responsibilities.”
Meanwhile, former India captain Ganguly said Jaitley’s contribution was immense in the development of cricket in Delhi, adding: “When we play and get 100, it gets recognition but a lot of people work behind the scene and help the cricketers. He was a cricketer’s person. that is the role of an administrator.”
Ganguly further noted: “I remember a phone call (he) made during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. We had lost the first game and the whole country went berserk but he (Jaitley) said that the association supports you and you play well.
These small things matter, he was a great human being. This is a remarkably talented state which has produced so many players, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant now, and many in the past. A settled DDCA is a good thing for Indian cricket and hopefully, they can do it.”
On the other hand, Gambhir said it was a perfect tribute to Jaitley.
He signed off, “We won the Ranji trophy during his tenure and the stadium was also built. Honesty, (being) intellectual, and absolute transparency are important for any administrator and he had that.”
(With PTI Inputs)