Virat Kohli pavilion: The captain of the Indian cricket team recently received the honour of having a pavilion dedicated to his name.
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It is an absolute honour for any player to have either of a stadium, pavilion or even an end dedicated to his name. Imagine the number of players who play for a country and only so few get such rare tributes. The sight oozes a different high if any cricketer receives such a mention during his playing days.
It is worth mentioning that players who have done exceedingly well consistently for years get to see their names in front of stadiums, pavilions or ends.
It is not necessarily that these glories are received only by players who have represented their countries at the highest level. At times, such honours are also received by domestic players who play for their home state throughout their elongated career.
3 current cricketers who have pavilion, end or stadium to their names
Virat Kohli pavilion
India captain Virat Kohli has become the latest cricketer to have a pavilion dedicated to his name. It all happened recently during the renaming ceremony of the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla stadium to Arun Jaitley stadium.
In the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, DDCA administrators and the Indian cricket team, Kohli was conferred with the honour. “I am a bit nervous seeing so many important people. I was not expecting such a grand stage to honour me. Thank You Rajat [Sharma] Sir and my team who is present here.
“All the former players of Delhi, Kapil Dev Sir, I thank you a lot. It’s weird to talk about this but I just want to thank the people who are present here – my wife and family,” Kohli was quoted as saying during the event.
In 388 international appearances across formats, Kohli has amassed in excess of 20,000 runs. The 30-year old cricketer already has many batting records at the highest level. It was during the same ceremony that former India captain Kapil Dev talked about Kohli nearing legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
If Kohli continues to bat in the same manner, him surpassing Tendulkar won’t be a massive surprise.
James Anderson End
Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson is among the other current cricketers in this list. In the summer of 2017, the Pavilion End at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester was renamed as the James Anderson End by the Lancashire County Cricket Club.
“Everyone at Lancashire County Cricket Club is hugely proud of James’ [Anderson] unique bowling achievements both for the Red Rose county and for England, as the country’s all-time leading wicket taker.
“In recognition of a fantastic career thus far, the Club is delighted to honour his success by renaming the Pavilion end, the James Anderson End,” Chairman of Lancashire County Cricket Club David Hodgkiss OBE was quoted as saying.
Having made his First-class debut in 2001, Anderson has till date picked 950 wickets in 246 First-class matches at an average of 24.97, an economy rate of 2.87 and a strike rate of 52.
With 575 Test wickets under his belt, Anderson is the highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers. Overall, Anderson has dismissed 862 batsmen in 362 international appearances across formats.
Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium
Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy might not have the amount of runs like Kohli or the number of wickets like Anderson but he had it in him to have a full stadium named after him.
It all happened in 2016 when Sammy had become the first-ever captain to win two ICC World Twenty20 titles. Previously known as Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, the stadium was renamed to Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium a few days after West Indies won the World Cup in India.
Sammy had led West Indies for years in times when they predominantly struggled at the highest level. Having said that, cricket’s shortest format was one such format where the West Indian cricketers exceeded. Having won the World T20 in 2012, Sammy repeated the feat four years later.
The all-rounder in him saw him score 3,781 runs and pick 209 wickets in 232 international appearances across formats. Having last played for West Indies in 2016, 35-year old Sammy plays in T20 leagues around the world.
