Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) organised a felicitation function for Indian off spinner and local star Ravichandran Ashwin to celebrate his milestone of scalping 500th wicket and playing 100 Tests.
The grand event was organised at Ashwin's home ground the M.A.Chdiambaram stadium at Chepauk in the city on Saturday evening.
Dr. P. Ashok Sigamani, President, TNCA presided over the function and welcomed the gathering.
The function was graced by Chief Guest Mr. N. Srinivasan, Former ICC Chairman, Former President BCCI & TNCA, Special Guests Roger Binny, President, BCCI, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, and Anil Kumble, Former Indian Captain, and Mr. K S Viswanathan, Former Secretary, TNCA.
The glittering function was attended by many a past and present Cricketers, Office Bearers of various State Cricket Associations, past Office Bearers, Member Club Secretaries, District Association Secretaries, dignitaries from various fields, Ashwin’s family and friends and the members of the media.
The TNCA presented an exclusive event Blazer, a beautifully crafted Mace, released a Special Stamp a symbolic 500 memento embedded with 500 gold coins and a silver memento on completing 100 test matches.
The icing on the cake was the presentation of a cheque for Rs One Crore by TNCA in recognition and appreciation of Ashwin’s achievements.
A special AV on Ashwins journey was played during the event and a special message video was also played in which stawarts like Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik and W V Raman had sent special appreciation messages for Ashwin.
Ravichandran Ashwin delivered an emotional acceptance speech recalling his early days and association with TNCA.
He recalled with gratitude all those people who helped during his formative days and still continue to do, especially Mr Srinivasan.