Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], February 14 (ANI): Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday inaugurated the re-christened Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot.
The stadium has been renamed after former cricketer and cricket administrator, Niranjan Shah ahead of the third Test between India and England, which will take place at this venue. Niranjan Shah played 12 first-class matches for Saurashtra. Shah has served as the BCCI secretary and SCA secretary in his career as an administrator of over 50 years.
Jay Shah also played some shots at the wicket while checking out the stadium.
Jaydev Shah, the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), told ANI, “The better the infrastructure is, the better will be the players. We are happy that Jay Shah has inaugurated this. He liked the wicket quite a lot, and played a few shots. It is really good for the players.”
England Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday named the playing eleven for the third Test match against India in Rajkot, as pacer Mark Wood replaced Shoaib Bashir in the playing squad. The series is currently level at 1-1.
“The Three Lions have made one change with Mark Wood replacing Shoaib Bashir,” the statement from ECB said.
Skipper Ben Stokes will play his 100th Test match for England at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
“Captain Ben Stokes is set to make his 100th Test appearance in Rajkot,” it added.
The third Test will commence on February 15 in Rajkot while the fourth Test kickstarts in Ranchi on February 23 The fifth and final Test of the series will be played in Dharamsala from March 7.
Heading into the third Test India will be without the experienced wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul as the player was ruled out of the match. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday named Devdutt Padikkal as Rahul’s replacement for the third Test.
England’s Playing Eleven: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
India’s updated Squad for the third Test: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal. (ANI)
