MUMBAI: The Mumbai Cricket Association will auction the two seats of the Wankhede Stadium where MS Dhoni’s winning shot for a six landed in the final of the 2011 World Cup, for the 2023 ODI World Cup matches.
The two seats where Dhoni’s famous shot landed are known as the ‘2011 World Cup Memorial seats.’ On its website, under a section titled : ‘Request for proposal for buyout of Hospitality Package for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 matches at Wankhede Stadium,’ the MCA has mentioned that “Cricket World Cup 2011 Victory Memorial Stand (2 seats) to be auctioned.” An auction for these seats will certainly fetch the MCA a few crores of rupees, considering the sentimental value India’s cricket fans associate with THAT famous shot.
In April, it had been reported that the MCA had decided to make a ‘memorial’ at the spot in that stand, behind long-on, where the ball fell after Dhoni hit Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara for the maximum to seal India’s triumph on April 2, 2011. At that time, the MCA officials had shown Dhoni those special seats at the Wankhede Stadium, when he was leading the Chennai Super Kings in an IPL game. On Sunday, MCA president Amol Kale clarified to TOI that there “will be no memorial, but those seats at the historic spot will be “especially designed and named after MS Dhoni.”
“Those two special seats will be permanently named after MS Dhoni, and will be known as ‘MS Dhoni seats’. We are making something different. There’s no memorial, but those seats will be beautifully decorated and specially designed. They will like a sofa/comforter, and will have hospitality services. We will sell those seats at a premium (price). The auction will take place in the next 10 days. We will take out an ‘Expression of Interest’ and then people will bid for those seats,” Kale said.
The MCA is selling 300 seats in the Level 2 of the Sachin Tendulkar Stand for Rs 3 crores and 140 seats in the seven boxes for Rs 2.66 cr, for the five matches that the Wankhede Stadium is staging in the 2023 World Cup.
