Indian cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar have arrived in Varanasi to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of an international cricket stadium. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to lay the foundation stone of the stadium and all four legends among other dignitaries will grace the event with their presence.
Other than attending the ceremony, the former India cricketers will also pay a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. The foundation stone laying ceremony will also feature the top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) including incumbent President Roger Binny, Vice President Rajiv Shukla and secretary Jay Shah.
The state of Uttar Pradesh already has a couple of world-class cricket stadiums in the form of Green Park Stadium in Kanpur and the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow that have hosted several international games in the past.
The Green Park Stadium is the only international stadium in India that is not owned by a state cricket association and has played host to 23 Test matches, 15 ODIs and 1 T20I game thus far. It is the only venue in the country that has a Student's Gallery. It also holds the record for having the largest manually operated scoreboard in the world.
The Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow is also the home ground of the Indian Premier League franchise Lucknow Super Giants. The venue will also play host to a few games during the upcoming ODI World Cup starting October 5.
Australia vs South Africa (October 12), Australia vs Sri Lanka (October 16), Netherlands vs Sri Lanka (October 21), India vs England (October 29) and Netherlands vs Afghanistan (November 3) are the matches that will be organised at the Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow during the marquee tournament.
