Amit Shah unveils Arun Jaitley’s statue at DDCA premises

A controversial build-up however, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Monday unveiled the statue of its former president Arun Jaitley at its premises within the reminiscence of the late administrator and political determine.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled Jaitley’s life-size statue, ready by 96-year-old famend sculptor Ram Sutar, the person behind the making of the long-lasting Statue of Unity in Gujarat.
Former India cricketer Bishen Singh Bedi had severely criticised the DDCA for selecting to put in the statue of an administrator as a substitute of an inspirational cricketer and even demanded that his identify be faraway from one the stands on the Feroze Shah Kotla floor.
BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly, India opener Shikhar Dhawan, ex India opener Gautam Gambhir, who can also be a BJP MP from Delhi, BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla and Union Minister Hardeep Puri attended the disclosing ceremony together with various DDCA officers.
“Arun was like an elder brother to me. He was known for his sportsmanship spirit in political circle. He remained aggressive in his speeches but never lowered the dignity of the Parliament,” Shah stated in his tribute to Jaitley, who remained DDCA President for 13 years.
“Arun always put his own interest at the back, never sought publicity and rose during the Emergency days when he spent 19 months in jail. His political journey started then. He was multi-talented and fulfilled a range of responsibilities.”
Ganguly stated Jaitley’s contribution was immense within the improvement of cricket in Delhi, although the DDCA has been in “turmoil” for a while.
“When we play and get 100, it gets recognition but lot of people work behind the scene and help the cricketers. He was a cricketer’s person. that is the role of an administrator,” he stated.
“I remember a phone call (he) made during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. We had lost the first game and the whole country went berserk but he (Jaitley) said that association supports you and you play well. These small things matter, he was a great human being,” stated Ganguly.
“This is a remarkably talented state which has produced so many players, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant now and many in the past. A settled DDCA is good thing for Indian cricket and hopefully they can do it.”
Gambhir stated the set up of Jailtely’s statue is an ideal tribute to him.
“We won the Ranji trophy during his tenure and the stadium was also built. Honesty, (being) intellectual and absolute transparency are important for any administrator and he had that,” stated Gambhir.