Honouring Indian cricketers. And how !

Chennai : The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to recommend to different state governments and various public sector bodies that eminent cricketers from their states should be honoured by naming a prominent place in the state capital after them. It has cited the example of Anil Kumble Circle in Bangalore.

Tenali Rama has accessed the list compiled by BCCI and it includes recommendations for many cricketers, most past, some present.

1. Sachin Tendulkar : Apart from the Bharat Ratna, BCCI wants Marine Drive to be renamed as Tendulkar drive. It has also enclosed a recommendation letter from former CM Ashok Chavan, who has suggested an Adarsh spot to honour Tendulkar. There is also a suggestion to change the name of BEST (the bus service in Mumbai) to `Sachin’

2. VVS Laxman : The RTC bus no 281 that plies in Hyderabad can be named after Laxman. Another suggestion is to name the Outer Ring Road in Hyderabad as Laxman Rekha.

3. Rahul Dravid : The road outside Chinnaswamy Stadium could be called The Wall Street

4. Kapil Dev : After he expressed his views on when Sachin Tendulkar should retire, LIC is mulling introducing a Kapil Dev Retirement benefits policy.

5. Sourav Ganguly : As a tribute to one of the most elegant left-handed Indian batsmen, Kolkatta Traffic Police to rename `Turn left’ signs with `Turn Ganguly’ signboards. Trinamool Congress has reportedly approved this axing of the `Left’.

7. Sreesanth : Malayalees are always quick on the uptake. Soon after he made it into the Indian team, the residents of the locality where Sreesanth lived, renamed the area as Sreesanth Nagar. Now that his fortunes of this Kochi Express have dipped and he is forever injured, BCCI has written to Indian Railways to rename the Railways maintenance shed near Kochi as Sreesanth Maintenance Shed. A local glycerine manufacturer has meanwhile offered to call his product, `Sreesanth Glycerine’, with the tagline, `Never fails to shed a tear’.

8. Ishant Sharma : The Go-karting track on the outskirts of Delhi would be the perfect choice

9. Ravi Shastri : Since he strongly believes that in a match, all three results are possible, BCCI feels it would be appropriate to name any T-junction in Mumbai after him. Alternately, since he was among the first Indians to win an Audi in 1985 in Australia, even the Audi showroom in Bandra could be named after him.

10. Vinod Kambli : Since he always spoke about how he took the stairs while Tendulkar took the elevator, BCCI has suggested that the staircase in his society building where he lives, be named after him and be called Vinod Ganpat Kambli staircase.

11. Mohammed Azharuddin : As he is banned for life by the BCCI, the cricket body is in a fix, what to do about him.