KL Rahul welcomes decision to name stands at Chinnaswamy Stadium after Karnataka cricketing greats

“It is about respecting what the players have done for the State and India,” Rahul said before the second Test against Australia.

The stands will be named after Erapalli Prasanna, GR Vishwanath, BS Chandrasekhar, Syed Kirmani, Brijesh Patel, Roger Binny, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. | Photo Credit: K Bhagya Prakash

The move to name stands at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium after Karnataka’s iconic cricketing legends has evoked goodwill all around. K. L. Rahul welcomed the initiative in his backyard while also admitting to a hope of eventually seeing his name in that list.

“Everyone wishes for it, but I will have to get as many runs as the people that have their names on these stands. So if I can do that, then maybe. Yeah, but I haven’t reached that point yet,” the batter said in reply to a specific query at the Adelaide Oval here on Wednesday.

The man, who speaks Kannada and Tulu with equal felicity besides English and Hindi, stressed that naming the stands after the greats was a fine move. “It is good. It is about respecting what the players have done for the State and India. I am sure for everybody, it is a huge honour when you see your name, a stand being named after you. So yes, it will be lovely.”

The Karnataka State Cricket Association will be naming the stands after B.S. Chandrasekhar, E.A.S. Prasanna, G.R. Viswanath, Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny, Brijesh Patel, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad.