The Mumbai Cricket Association plans to felicitate all the past and present cricketers from the city and also host a special lunch for all the ground staff as it celebrates the 50 th anniversary of the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
A glitzy event will be held at the venue on January 19, in the presence of the stalwarts of Indian cricket. It will be followed by a laser show and a cultural programme, featuring noted singers Ajay-Atul and Avadhoot Gupte.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ashish Shelar, the former MCA president and now a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government, will also be felicitated during the event.
The tickets for the programme will be priced at Rs 300 each. “We have tickets at nominal prices so as to control the influx of the crowd and prevent it from becoming a law and order problem,” MCA president Ajinkya Naik said.
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According Naik, the celebrations will begin from January 12 with a friendly cricket match between the MCA officials and the bureaucrats and the Consul Generals
“We will also organise a special lunch for the grounds men of MCA’s clubs and grounds on January 15, paying tribute to the cricket’s unsung heroes,” Naik said on Thursday on the sidelines of a logo launch event.
One of the iconic venues in the country, the Wankhede Stadium was built in 1974 and it has hosted some of the memorable matches – including the historic 2011 World Cup final and Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell Test in 2013.
The association also plans to set up a selfie stand near the main gate for the fans and will also release a coffee table book on the history of the Wankhede Stadium.
While the MCA officials indicated that in the near future, they will name a few more stands after some former cricketers, and it also plans to celebrate the 75 th birthday of Sunil Gavaskar, the date of which will be decided once the former India captain confirms his availability.