The Ekana International Cricket Stadium (Lucknow) is currently in the historic moment as the venue is going to host its first ever international cricket match on Tuesday night (November 6) and that is the second T20I between India and Windies. Just before their first ever international tournament, the stadium has been renamed.
While the game will be played on Tuesday night, the stadium has got a new name on Monday as the Uttar Pradesh government has named it ‘Bharat Ratan Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium’.
Also read: Curator claims the Lucknow pitch is expected to assist the spinners more
The new name is the acknowledgement towards the late Indian former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He served as the Indian Prime Minister for three terms – a 13-day term in 1996, a 13-month term between 1998 and 1999 and a full-term from 1999 to 2004.
Vajpayee was one of India’s finest and respected prime-ministers. He won the Padma Vibhushan in 1992 and Bharat Ratna in 2015. In this August, Vajpayee passed away at the age of 93-year-old.
Now, the UP government has decided to rename the new international cricket stadium on the former Indian PM’s name. After Governor Ram Naik has approved the government’s proposal, the Housing and Urban Planning Department Principal Secretary Nitin Ramesh Gokarn has issued the orders to rename the stadium.
The government notice stated on this, “As per the Article 17.5.1 of the concession agreement between Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), Ekana Sportz City Pvt Ltd and GC Constructions and Development Industries Pvt Ltd, after giving it proper thoughts the Governor has happily accepted the proposal to change name of the international cricket stadium, situated in the Sector 7 of Gomti Nagar Extension, to Bharat Ratan Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Antar-rashtriya Cricket Stadium.”
The venue is making its international cricket debut with the Tuesday’s T20I game between India and Windies. The stadium has a 50,000 sitting capacity and it is expected to be a house-full day.
