BCCI to felicitate former India captains at '500th Test', Azhar ignored

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to invite all the former India captains to celebrate the occasion of country's '500th Test match' that will be played against New Zealand in Kanpur from September 22.

A specially minted silver coin with 500th Test embossed on it is being prepared for the toss.

Senior BCCI official and UPCA supremo Rajeev Shukla said that a host of events are being organised by the BCCI to make the event memorable.

"The BCCI wants to felicitate all the former captains during the Test match. GreenPark is one of the first four Test venues in India along with Chepauk, Wankhede and EdenGardens. It will be a fitting tribute to all those former captains, who could be present on the occasion. The BCCI is making all arrangements," Shukla told said on Thursday.

The likes of Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Krishnamachari Srikkanth are expected to grace the occasion.

Chief coach Anil Kumble will also be present. Rahul Dravid is also expected to comeback from his India ‘A’ tour assignment.

However, BCCI may not invite Mohammed Azharuddin, who was imposed a life ban for his alleged involvement in match-fixing when the scandal first broke in 2000. While Azhar has been acquitted by the court, the BCCI still does not invite him for official events.

"The BCCI along with UPCA will also be hosting a dinner for the Indian captains, where both India and New Zealand teams will be present," Shukla said.

The BCCI and the UPCA are also preparing T-shirts with '500th Test' written on it for the under-privileged children, who will be present in the stadium on all days of the Test match.

"Every day, there will be 2000 under-privileged school children, who would be watching their favourite stars in action. We have also made arrangements for physically challenged persons and kids from the orphanage, who would be attending the Test match," said Shukla.

Image: Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin