Ahead of Sunil Gavaskar’s 71st birthday on Friday, the Mumbai Cricket Association has decided to restore two fixed seats of the former India captain at the Wankhede Stadium. On Thursday, the MCA president Vijay Patil confirmed to Sportstar that the association would not only restore the two seats but also “re-position two fixed seats in the name of Mr and Mrs Gavaskar” in the president’s box.
This comes after MCA Apex Council member Nadeem Memon requested the association to restore the two fixed seats of the batting legend. At the time of his retirement, two fixed seats with Mr and Mrs Gavaskar’s names on it were allotted by the MCA at the Garware Pavilion to honour him.
However, during the renovation work at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of the 2011 World Cup, those seats were not restored as the seating arrangement was changed to bucket seats.
“It was a gesture by the MCA to honour Gavaskar after he had retired from the game post his feats of becoming the highest Test run-scorer (10,122) and the first to score more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket. However, after the Wankhede was renovated and then reopened in 2011, his 'fixed' seats were not there,” Memon had written to MCA president and the members of the Apex Council, requesting them to look into the matter.
The MCA also issued a release, stating: "It was brought to our notice that the two fixed seats allotted to Smt and Shri Sunil Gavaskar were inadvertently, not restored. However, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) headed by the President, Dr Vijay Patil, has decided not only to reinstate the two fixed seats in their honour but also re-position the two fixed seats in the name of Smt. and Shri Sunil Gavaskar, in the president’s Box at the Wankhede Stadium, MCA.”
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