Cricket Buzz: Kotla to be renamed Arun Jaitley Stadium

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Tuesday decided to rechristen Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as Arun Jaitley Stadium in memory of its former president who passed away on Saturday.

The renaming will take place on September 12 at a function where a stand at the Kotla will be named after India captain Virat Kohli as announced earlier.

Speaking on this initiative, DDCA president Rajat Sharma said: "It was Arun Jaitley's support and encouragement that players like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Rishabh Pant and many others could make India proud."

Jaitley, during his tenure at DDCA, is credited with renovating the stadium into a modern facility, increasing its capacity to accommodate more fans besides constructing world class dressing rooms.

The function, to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, will be graced by the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Powar named India A bowling coach for South Africa series

Former off-spinner and women's team coach Ramesh Powar has been named India A bowling coach for the upcoming series against South Africa A.

"He has been appointed only for the South Africa A series," a BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.

Powar, who played two Tests and 31 ODIs for India, was embroiled in a controversy late last year after he fell out with senior women's team player Mithali Raj when he was the head coach.

Powar had reapplied for the same position but the Cricket Advisory Committee headed by 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev chose W V Raman as his successor.

India A will be playing two four day games and a five match unofficial 'ODI' series against South Africa A.

The one-day series will be played in Thiruvananthapuram beginning from Thursday.

Sandeep Patil's fake profile created on FB; hunt on for culprit

An unidentified person has been booked for allegedly creating a fake Facebook profile of

former cricketer Sandeep Patil and trying to seek through it phone numbers of well-known personalities, police said on Tuesday.

A friend brought the fake social media account to Patil's notice last week when he was at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Dadar, central Mumbai, he said.

Patil then found the account, having his photograph, being operated by an unidentified user who had asked for contact numbers of some members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and several famous personalities through the Facebook messenger, the official said.

The accused had also messaged some prominent cricketers from the fake account and asked for their phone numbers, he said.

Patil, 63, who does not have any social media account, immediately informed the BCCI and later lodged a complaint at ShivajiPark police station, he said.

Based on the complaint, the police registered an offence under sections of the Information Technology Act, he said, adding that search was on for the unidentified accused.

Mumbai-born Patil played 29 Tests and 45 One Day Internationals (ODIs), scoring 1,588 and 1,005 runs in them, respectively.

He was a member of the 1983 World Cup winning squad and also served as chairman of the national selection committee.

Patil was also a domestic stalwart as he scored 8,156 runs in 130 first-class games.