Gavaskar & Manjrekar escapes unhurt in an accident

November 7: In a major mishap, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar escaped unhurt after one of the glass doors of the commentary box at the newly-built Ekana Stadium in Lucknow lay shattered just as both of them were entering the enclosure. Both the former cricketers were lucky to return unscratched. Later on Manjrekar said “One of the glass doors just crumbled like a pack of cards but luckily no one sustained any injuries. All are safe.”

The Ekana Stadium, which was renamed as “Bharat Ratan Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium” by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityananth earlier in the day, made its debut as international cricket venue on Tuesday. The stadium, with a seating capacity of around 50,000, is all set to host the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series between India and West Indies.

From ministers to bureaucrat sons, police officials, everyone worth their name on was hunting for possibilities to see the match at the stadium which was built under the watch of Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav during his tenure.

A day after the name of Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium was changed to Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium, senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan drew a analogy drew an analogy with the marriage of a daughter and said the same has happened with the stadium. “People raise their daughters, educate them, teach them about cooking and other daily chores, and in a second, she gets married and is no more theirs. Something similar has happened with Lucknow’s Ekana stadium,” Khan said.