Former cricketers demand to name pavilion in Vizag stadium after Venugopal Rao

Visakhapatnam: Former cricketers of Vizag and YSR Congress Party leader Malla Vijay Prasad demanded Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) authorities and Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association (VDCA) to name one of the pavilions of Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA cricket stadium after former Indian cricketer from the city, Y Venugopal Rao.

It may be recalled that Venugopal Rao, a native of Gajuwaka in Vizag, recently announced retirement from all forms of the game. Rao is a former captain of the Andhra Ranji team and a member of Team India. He had represented India in 16 ODIs and 65 IPL matches. The 37-year-old from Vizag scored 218 runs with a lone fifty to his name in the 11 innings he played for India, after making his debut against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on July 30, 2005.

Vijay Prasad, along with some former Vizag cricketers — K Vijay Mohan, SK Hussain and SM Ali — expressed that Venugopal should be honoured during the end of the ongoing Test match between India and South Africa.

Coming down heavily on ACA and VDCA for ignoring Venugopal, Vijay Prasad and others said that they decided to launch a massive agitation if the officials failed to name a pavilion after Venugopal.

The former cricketers also insisted that VDCA should conduct elections with Lodha Committee implementations and give a chance to young talented persons to lead the association towards a progressive growth.

They also demanded that players from Vizag, who played for Andhra, should get voting rights in elections, to place the district’s cricket on the world map. Previously, there used to be 7 to 8 cricketers from Vizag in State teams. However, now hardly one or two players are in State teams, the group added.

Vizag cricket needs to be developed, and present members should make way for new fresh ex-cricketers to run the game, they further insisted.