Kasaragod: On the sunny afternoon of Friday, February 21, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar will be in Kasaragod to unveil a plaque, renaming the municipal road encircling the Municipal Stadium in Vidyanagar in his honour. The 1,860-metre road will be known as Sunil Gavaskar Municipal Stadium Road, said Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikunnu. Gavaskar will unveil the plaque at 3:30 pm.

This will be the second road in Kasaragod district to be named in honour of a cricketer. Legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble inaugurated a road named after him in Kumbla Grama Panchayat on June 27, 2010. India’s highest wicket-taker in both Test and ODI cricket has his roots in Kumbla, a Kasaragod village also spelt as Kumble.

The Kasaragod Municipal Council, which is hosting Sunil Gavaskar, plans to turn Friday's event into a public celebration of the 'Little Master', who retired from international cricket 37 years ago after amassing a record 10,122 runs in 125 Test matches and 3,092 runs in 102 ODI innings.

After the unveiling of the plaque, Municipal Chairman Abbas Begum said, the 75-year-old Gavaskar would be driven in an open vehicle, accompanied by a convoy, to the Royal Convention Centre in Chettumkuzhi, where a grand felicitation ceremony will be held. "The people of Kasaragod will have the opportunity to honour the cricketing legend," he said.

Last October, the Kasaragod Municipal Council decided to rename the 3-km Beach Road in Nellikkunnu after Sunil Gavaskar. However, the people felt the tribute should be more closely tied to sports to truly honour the iconic cricketer, said the MLA, explaining why the decision was dropped.

Gavaskar's legacy has long outgrown boundaries. He has roads named after him from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu to Wellington in New Zealand, and cricket grounds honouring him from Zanzibar in Tanzania and Leicester in England to Louisville at Kentucky in the US, where the sport is making its early runs.

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