3 stadiums in India that were renamed after an administrator ft. Niranjan Shah Stadium

Indians seem to hold the honor of having named most of their sporting arenas after administrators or politicians.

On several occasions, the administrators or politicians in question seem to have nothing to do with the sport - far from playing it themselves - and yet find their names memorialized by the legions of faithful.

No other country seems to hold the distinction of naming their stadiums after administrators and politicians rather than sporting legends themselves.

This says quite a lot about the amount of influence politics and lobbying play in sports in our country.

In this listicle, we bring to you three cricket stadiums that were renamed after an administrator:

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#1 Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot

The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot is the latest in the list of cricket stadiums in India to be renamed after an administrator.

Niranjan Shah, upon whom the stadium is renamed, was a former cricketer who played in 12 first-class matches for Saurashtra in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

However, he earned most of his fame serving as the secretary of the BCCI for a long time.

At the moment, he serves as the honorary secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association and sits on the board of the National Cricket Academy and BCCI's disciplinary committee.

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#2 Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

The Delhi and District Cricket Association earned the ire of several of its members and supporters over its decision to rename the historic Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in 2019.

This decision seemed a bit opportune given that the late Jaitley - a BJP politician and former finance minister of the country - who had served as the president of the DDCA in the past, was embroiled in a lot of corruption allegations during his tenure.

His son, Rohan, was an office-bearer of the association during the decision of its renaming and now serves as its president. Quite naturally, a lot of former cricketers were not pleased with the renaming decision.

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#3 MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, which is one of the most historic venues to play cricket in India, was called the Madras Cricket Club ground before it got its present name.

This stadium - also commonly referred to as Chepauk - is the second oldest cricket stadium in the country after the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Established in the year 1916, the stadium was renamed in 1980 after the aforementioned Mr. Chidambaram, who was a former president of the BCCI and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

It has played host to some of the most memorable matches of all time, including the famous tied Test between India and Australia in 1986.