Indian legends felicitated by the BCCI; Rahul Dravid missed the ceremony

What’s the story?

Ahead of the start of the first match of the 2017 IPL, the BCCI had decided to felicitate the fab five of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, RahulDravid, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag for their contributions to Indian cricket.

The original #IPL iconic players are here to kickstart the proceedings - @sachin_rt @VVSLaxman281 @SGanguly99 @virendersehwag pic.twitter.com/eFdD8TkCll

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2017

While Sachin, Ganguly, Laxman and Sehwag were honoured by the board officials, one man was missing at the ceremony. Former Indian captain and the coach of Delhi Daredevils, Rahul Dravid did not attend the function.

It is speculated that the Wall of Indian cricket could have been delayed because of the travel time from Delhi to Hyderabad. Flights are running late in Delhi because of thunderstorms in the Indian capital and the stadium is two hours away from the Hyderabad airport.

In case you didn’t know...

A few days ago, the IPL Governing Council decided to felicitate five legends of Indian cricket, the fab five which include the likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag, before the opening ceremony of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League.

"The decision was taken at the GC meeting today that five legends of Indian cricket -- Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag will be felicitated during the opening ceremony in Hyderabad on April 5," IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla told reporters after the completion of IPL GC meet.

Extra cover: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore- Live updates

Details

The chairman of CoA felicitated VVS Laxman first while CK Khanna, Amitabh Choudhary and the IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla presented Ganguly, Sehwag and Tendulkar with a golden bat.

What’s next?

Coming to the action on the field, after winning the toss, the away captain Watson opted to field first. Royal Challengers Bangalore, without their star players including captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan, will hope that they do not have to chase a total in excess of 160 to take two points from the game.

Let the games begin. Let's have a great tournament everyone @IPL pic.twitter.com/TgWe1hhJ50

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) April 5, 2017

Author’s Take

It is disappointing not to see Dravid present to receive the honour. The BCCI could also have acknowledged the efforts of former skipper and the current coach of the Indian team, Anil Kumble by felicitating him for his contributions towards Indian cricket as he is someone who contributed as much as the other five members.