Sunil Gavaskar, the original little master, has literally become Indian Cricket’s brand ambassador as now has a whole cricket ground named after him in Louisville, Kentucky. ‘The Sunil M Gavaskar Cricket Field’ will serve as the home ground for Louisville Cricket Club which is part of the Midwest Cricket League, a 42-team tournament.
While the ground has become the first sporting facility named after an Indian athlete, this is not the first time that Sunil Gavaskar has received an international honor of this stature. We all know about the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which has been named after two of the greatest cricketers from India and Australia, i.e. Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border, there is also a road named after the Indian icon in Wellington.
Sunil Gavaskar was presented with the keys of the ground on October 15 by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer during the inauguration of Kentucky cricket field and the former Indian cricketer said,
“I am delighted as well as privileged at the honor. It’s a unique achievement to have a cricket ground named after me, especially in a nation where cricket is not a premier sport.”
Mayor Greg Fischer, on the other hand, said
“We are an increasingly global community, cricket already being a part of our city’s sporting landscape. We hope that the investment at Hays Kennedy Park will open Cricket to more local participation, and even more global opportunities for the city.”
While the Mayor added that he expects the USD 150,000 investment in ‘The Sunil M Gavaskar Cricket Field’ to reap great rewards, interestingly, 10 percent of the total funding to create this new field was raised by 50 active playing members of the Louisville Cricket Club.
As for the honor that Sunil Gavaskar has received, he already has a stand at the Wankhede Stadium named after him, for his contribution to Indian cricket. For the unknown, Sunil Gavaskar was the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs and 30 centuries in Test cricket, a record that was later broken by Sachin Tendulkar.
The update has come just a couple of days after Virender Sehwag was honored by the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) with the Gate No. 2 of Firoz Shah Kotla stadium being named after him.
The likes of West Indies cricketers Vivian Richards and Darren Sammy also have ground named after them in their home nation, however, when it comes to Sunil Gavaskar, there is no doubt that the former Indian cricketer is now one of the major Global brand ambassadors of the sport.
Coming back to the ‘The Sunil M Gavaskar Cricket Field’ in Kentucky, the authorities are now planning to build a pavilion as well as develop practicing facilities to attract more and more talent, both from domestic as well as the International circuit.