A life-size statue of Arun Jaitley was unveiled at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) premises on Monday to honor the late former president. 96-year-old Ram Sutar, the man behind the making of the iconic Statue of Unity in Gujarat, made Jaitley’s statue as well. Union home minister Amit Shah unveiled the figure.
However, the decision to build Jaitley’s statue, who died last year due to multiple health issues, was severely criticized by former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi. The Spin legend slammed the DDCA for choosing to install an administrator’s statue instead of an inspirational cricketer. In a scathing letter to the DDCA, he demanded his name to be removed from the stands at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground and even renounced his membership.
DDCA president Rohan Jaitley said that the association will request Bedi to withdraw his demand of removing his name from a stand at the ground. Rohan added that he would have liked it if the 74-year-old chose to discuss the matter with him personally instead of making harsh remarks about his father.
“Bedi ji is the ‘Bhisham Pitamah’ of Delhi cricket. If there are reservations, there are better ways of discussing. I am a youngster and I expect to be guided by the elders in the fraternity. His name on the stands is his legacy, an honour bestowed upon him,” Rohan said after the unveiling ceremony.
“These matters have to decided by the Apex Council. It’s not in my domain. It’s not in my power to remove anyone”s name. We have discussed it within the DDCA. We are going to request him to reconsider it. It’s a long affiliation between the DDCA and Mr Bedi.”
Speaking about whether Bedi’s name in the stands really matters to the DDCA, Rohan said “It matters, I want his name to be there. I respect him as much as my father, if he wants to scold me, he can pull my ear but you can’t hit below the belt when it is not required.”
“Raising (casting) aspersion on someone who is not among us is not fair. If there are reservations, I would have addressed rather than hearing from the media. I am accessible, available to everyone on board.”
“There are ways to address the grievances. If you start attacking someone, who has just stepped into the office…. I am trying my best to get DDCA’s glory back. I can’t do it overnight, it will take some time,” he said.
Rohan Jaitley also shared his vision for the DDCA and mentioned that players will be at the centre of all development.
“World class infrastructure for players and members, a world class gym will be there in the next few months. We are upgrading cricketing infrastructure, the new lights are being planned. We are already communicating with the DDA on setting up of academies. Two grounds have been identified already.”
“We are trying to bring in a more transparent system. Development plans will begin. The old clubhouse has issues, we are already communicating with IIT Delhi to rectify”. he said.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly, India opener Shikhar Dhawan, ex India international Gautam Gambhir, who is also a BJP MP from Delhi, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla, and union minister Hardeep Puri.
Ganguly recognized Jaitley’s contribution to the development of cricket in Delhi and said “When we play and get 100, it gets recognition but lot of people work behind the scenes and help the cricketers. He was a cricketer”s person. That is the role of an administrator.”
“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,” said 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,” he added.
Praising Jaitley’s qualities as an administrator, Gautam Gambhir said “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.”