 Hello and let's talk about the inauguration of Arun Jaitly statue at the Arun Jaitly stadium. The statue of the former finance minister and former president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association or DDCA was inaugurated on a 68th birthday anniversary today. The move cost quite the controversy with former cricketing legend Bishan Singh Bedi, taking strong objection to the move and writing two letters in this regard to the DDCA president. In the first letter, he demanded that his name be removed from the spectator stand and also said that he would quit the DDCA. In his second letter, he added that he did not want to be an I quote, part of a cricket stadium which has the statue of a person who I strongly believe brought down cricketing values in the capital, Hujri, to say the least, end of quote. Bedi has protested last year too when the stadium that was still then famous as the Ferozha Kotla Ground was renamed as the Arun Jaitly stadium. Now, this is one of the many aspects of this decision which also poses larger questions on the naming of stadiums and support establishments in the country. Now, of course, this is not restricted to the BJP as this was mastered by the Congress in the beginning. But how do we see this move in today's context and its impact on sports persons? We talk to Leslie Xavier. Thank you, Leslie, for joining us. So today, the statue of Arun Jaitly, of course, being inaugurated and there's been a lot of controversy, of course, around Bishan Singh Bedi's comments, for instance, which we just looked at. But also the fact that there have been larger questions about the issue of how is Indian sport named or recognised for that matter and the role administrators play and what signs it sends to the rest of the country regarding sports in India itself. So before we get into some of the specifics, maybe, would you just want to give you views on this controversy itself? Well, our country is fast becoming a country of statues. The biggest achievement we measured in the tallest statues that we built. So getting into the point that you mentioned, for the longest time I used to joke, I mean, in my sporting career as well as, of course, I have competed in some stadiums which are named after sports persons. Like, for instance, in Lucknow, I have competed in KD Singh Babu Stadium, which is named after the great hockey player who was part of India's independent India's first hockey team, which won gold anyway. But predominantly in India across the states, if you look at it, all the major stadiums are named after politicians, ex-prime ministers mostly. So I used to joke that if a foreigner was not well versed with Indian history or happening here, then he would think that Javelal Nehru or Indira Gandhi or Taji Gandhi are the greatest sports persons of this country as produced because that's how our sporting venues are known after these politicians that way. So then coming to Avin Jayatli, Mr. Avin Jayatli, after that soon the DCA were very quick to rename Kittoshtak Outlaw and historic venue and it's one of the first stadiums in the country. It was, I believe, in 1883 that it was inaugurated, it was open and they renamed it Avin Jayatli Stadium and in a year's time, I mean today happens to be birthday, birthday anniversary, they have inaugurated their statue at gate number one of the stadium, which is incidentally named after Viran Dasarvagan, it's called Viran Dasarvagan Gate. So the venue itself, the historic significance of the venue, the Kittoshtak Outlaw, I mean it's adjacent to the fortress and so the naming convention, the original name comes from there and beyond that, the stadium itself has been witnessed to many historic pieces, the latest and with the current generation of ours, we would associate with the 10-bighit hall that Anil Kumbhlai had the record 10-bighit hall. Otherwise, if you go back further, there have been a lot of instances when great Indians have been played out there and also, but off late, Kittoshtak Outlaw and Delhi and the Sixth Cricket Association, the DCA, we associate it with corruption and political inciting and backstabbing and allegations and all these things and it more or less, I mean you can't just, I mean you can put it exactly at a starting point of course because these things have a long history as in corruption and the way a body is run or where the politics is being played within, but ironically was president of the DCA from 1999 to 2013 and coinciding with this period was when Delhi Cricket and the DCA and Kittoshtak Outlaw started sliding into controversies, mired-in controversies, corruption, allegations, there were renovations happening in the stadium which gave the corruption of, I mean alongside the renovation like people took money, people, I mean and that is where former players like Bishan Singh Bedi and all that have been very vocal about these issues, though whenever he comes out and says something, I mean it's very clear who pushes that narrative, so the people say, people address him by saying that by the way Bishan Singh Bedi said this but he lost the DCA presidential election to Arun Jaitli in 1999, so people think that he is pointing out things or he is always critical because he lost that election to Jaitli and he doesn't like Jaitli henceforth, but no, being a cricketer, being a proud cricketer that too because he belongs to a generation of Indian cricketers who were playing for pride that way, who were playing to make a mark in the world of cricket, they were considered underdogs and they were going out to hostile countries where spin-balling was not exactly a wicked taking option but still ballers like Bishan Singh Bedi alongside other great spinners that we have produced used to make in roads and ensure that India came out with a respectable performance or at least if not victory and also have been part of many memorable victorious sides, so a person who has done great on the cricket field comes out and says that if the statue is being erected here then I don't want my name to be associated with this stadium that I mean as sports lovers as a sporting, as a nation itself we should stand up and notice why is he saying that we should try and understand what is the backstory to this and the backstory is simple. Arun Jaitli is not a cricketer, Arun Jaitli's tenure as a cricketer administrator has been tainted left right and center by a lot of lot of happening around, happenings around but it happened under his tenure so to bring a statue onto a sporting venue it's the meaning of it, it's difficult to understand, difficult I mean I can relate with Bishan Singh Bedi for what he's saying but I can't relate with this erection of this statue at the court lab, I mean I still refer to the stadium as the court lab because that's how it is. Absolutely right and in this context generally it's kind of important to think about this issue not only with respect to cricket or Delhi for that matter but the entire country like you said the stadiums and facilities named after politicians is one thing there's of course another issue we've talked about so much in the past which is that sport administration itself is often completely dominated by politicians sometimes rival camps from the same party like we talked about recently sometimes rival camps from different parties and in all of this seems to definitely have an impact on the way sport is administered in the country as well so while this naming itself will not cause any problems to Indian sport in that sense it seems to be a sign of a larger malaise so to speak. Well just one instance and you will know the deep deep rooted systemic problem here. Aruji at least is the head of DDC now let's just be silent and let it sink in and so yeah and he's basically erecting that statue at the stadium but beyond that there is a larger game which is I mean the idea of naming and renaming which is happening across the country and of course the larger idea of erecting statues so I've had this discussion with a couple of colleagues of mine last year when another renaming happened another renaming happened and then the stadium renaming happened which actually in fact means we can cover that moment that piece with the piece as well so the point is when we look at Ferozha Kautla or when we name any of the stadiums for instance Chennai's M.H.Sidambaram or Chennai's Homa stadium in Bangalore or the various Rajiv Gandhi stadiums in their Gandhi stadiums IG Complex here in Delhi Nehru stadium Talkathora stadium it's basically like if you make a direct comparison to a few generations a few centuries back it's basically monuments that would last the test of time it would last through history and coming generations will look at it and would look at the name and then they would be intrigued what it is whose name is this and then so it's it's basically ensuring a certain type of history to continue or start from here and then continue so it's basically as sinister as rewriting textbooks it's not a simple renaming process here it's it's it's renaming I mean it's it's reworking history if you ask me so Arun Jaitli's statue being erected over there and then of course there will be a long write-up underneath epitaph or explaining his contribution to Delhi cricket and why is I mean basically justifying why his statue statue is there and that's it he has been immortalized in Indian crickets by by by this this simple process so it's not as simple as just directing a statue and what is what is there in that everything is there in that because that entire area that's that stadium in the coming years when World Cup matches we will be held over there internationally you are calling this stadium I mean Delhi stadium and the visuals of this statue will do the rounds much like Don Brandman statue when when cricket is played in Australia and the venue where which which has Don Brandman statue visuals go there always they look at the dawn and they say that this year we go the greatest batsman of all time so here we go is are we trying to say that India's best administrators Mr. Arun Jaitli sports administrator and he has done so much so much for Indian sport I doubt that and so also there is BCCI dynamics happening within this it's a it's a very critical juncture for BCCI the Sola Ganguly Jay Shah come by they're trying to cling on to the seats and the hearing is on Supreme Court and they would want a lot of good will coming from all the powers so that they could they could continue with their positions in the BCCI so that there is a larger game based on that also so if you look at the tenure of Sola Ganguly as BCCI president and these are the stuff that he has been doing of course cricket has been running on autopilot there is a set system in place where IPL happens domestic cricket happens and new talent new cricketers come up and into the system and the national team is always there to iron out all the flaws I mean you win a T20 series that's it all the flaws all the games all the politics have been forgotten so everything is in place we didn't do much over there he has been doing what he has been doing is all these frivolous things I mean hosting a print ball test to start with and hosting a cricket match in Delhi and again the timing of that match was very critical because that was the I believe the first match after the stadium was renamed having the athlete so that was very important that's more or less like a validation of the stadium's name and so it happened height at the height of Delhi pollution smog happening all around and people I mean there was directives from there were directives from Delhi government saying that people shouldn't go out much gather much and you open that entire stadium for people to sit and breathe in the smoke players were struggling so and then now the statue idea statue move if you I can call that a move and it's pretty I mean it's all well connected in that sense it's not an isolated event as the larger game is is pretty much out in the open and larger game is what people like distancing baby have been trying to point out to the public absolutely Leslie you had begun talking about your own sports career how does this kind of say an act or what kind of message does this send across to sports persons it's showing them I mean in that sense when we used to compete and when we used to go to different venues and when we see all this name so I'll give you an example of me for the first time stepping into and it was a premier venue of wrestling for India and Katie Katie other stadium and Katie other being the first Olympic wrestling medalist for India in the 1952 Helsinki game and so this is these are exactly the words that you hear from your coach and you are a youngster and you you're told that you know the significance of this stadium you know this man and then they explain so that's the that's the that's our idea as a young kid you are walking into a venue and they would they will tell you that this man has done so much so so things on the playing field and this is what you aspire to be this is what you aspire to do as a sports person so so sporting venue is all inspiring is career defining it's career it's career changing for a youngster walking into it for the first time and you you sometimes you literally shiver when you enter and you know the enormity of that that's that's why people sometimes when when cricketers play in Eden Gardens they say that we have goosebumps inside or the lords we when the Indian cricket team travel to England lords test is always considered I mean lords century is big because because of the enormity of that venue so that's what stadiums are and for the fan it's it's it's a it's a larger idea I mean it's it's it's slightly more impersonal but a larger idea of being in that moment being I mean with all the emotions and the trappings and the history making that happens within that playing field it's it's so stadiums is a convergence of of all these energies emotions history everything together and in that you push in these these aberrations which which are which I consider aberrations but but for India it's the norm so I'm just I'm just looking I mean thinking about Arun Jaitley stadium and Arun Jaitley stadium statue there I'm just thinking of the the kids who would stand in front of that statue and click a picture and then go back and then keep the keep it for posterity saying I was there when this match happened and then 10 years later look at it and then trying to figure out who is this man standing there so that's that's that's the all point so is it is it meant to inspire future is it meant to meant for anything bigger than what the goal that we discussed so far that seems very apparent the political gaming and positioning and ensuring ensuring and making of legacy if you ask me so it's it's unfortunate that this is happening in the in this country and it's it's it's got it's touching sport and it's always touched sport but like I said earlier at least it was politicians who were prime ministers of India at least absolutely thank you so much for talking to us that's all we have time for today we'll be back tomorrow with more news from the country in the world until then keep watching news click