For Lakshmi Shastri, the unveiling of the Ravi Shastri Stand at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday was not merely an honour bestowed on her son. It was a full-circle moment — one that brought back memories of train rides, packed stands, and the quiet pride of watching a young boy from Mumbai carve his place in Indian cricket.

“It means a lot to me. I feel so honoured to be present here. I would come to the Wankhade Stadium to watch him play, though I did not watch his six sixes that day (in 1985). And I never dreamt that one day I would stand before the stand that has been named after him,” Lakshmi told Sportstar moments after the ceremony, with her daughter-in-law Ritu and granddaughter Alekha patiently waiting for her.

“This is with God’s grace, and I do believe Ravi’s devotion, dedication, most importantly, his self-belief that he will achieve what he dreamt of. So may he go from strength to strength, extremely proud of him.”

Her words carried the weight of decades. An ardent cricket follower since the 1960s, Lakshmi has been pivotal in pushing Ravi to the limits since his formative years. Yet, Thursday’s honour had a special emotional pull, particularly because Dr Jayadritha Shastri, Ravi’s father and one of his earliest supporters, was not present, having passed away in 2007.

“Only regret is his father is not present who encouraged him. But I am sure our blessings are with him,” she said.

Lakshmi also recalled one of her fondest memories at the Wankhede, an incident her son elaborated on during his speech.

“That he mentioned already, that when we came here to watch (the Test against England in 1984), Mr. (S.K.) Wankhade was present at that time. And he welcomed us, and he took us right up to his gallery to watch, which we thought was a great gesture on his part. We will never forget that,” she said.

Ravi Shastri, during his address, expanded on that cherished moment from 1984, when he was batting in a Test against England at the Wankhede.

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“We had Mr. Wankhede. And he was such a cricket lover. I remember my father and mother walking up the stairs to go up into the stand. And someone told him, ‘That’s Ravi’s parents’. And I was batting on fifty. This was the Test match against England (in 1984). He called them, took them up and put them in the prime seats to watch me get a hundred,” Shastri recalled.

It was a memory that tied the past to the present — from a young cricketer’s parents being escorted to the best seats to watch a milestone, to their son now having an entire stand named after him.

Lakshmi also reflected on where Thursday ranked among her son’s achievements. “It’s one of the memorable days. The most memorable will be his six sixes and his winning the Benson & Hedges Championship, when he was crowned Champion of Champions. That will forever remain in my memory,” she said.

Shastri, too, acknowledged the role his family played in his journey.

“To my family that’s present here, without their support, I don’t think I would have made it. My mother, 86, is even more obsessed with the game (than anyone else). She has watched Test cricket from the 1960s, right from (Gary) Sobers at the CCI to Clive Lloyd, and (Vivian) Richards, and her favourite was Neil Harvey. And she was a pest. You had to score every game.”

The honour held added significance for Shastri. The stand bearing his name now occupies almost the same area where, as a 12-year-old, he had watched his first Test match — against New Zealand in 1976 — as a spectator.

“The only disappointment, my father. He is not present here today, but he watched almost every game from the Garware Pavilion at that time. But he will be upstairs, he will be proud that this has happened.”

Nearly five decades later, with his mother watching from below and memories of his father lingering above, the unveiling of the Ravi Shastri Stand became not just a tribute to a cricketer, but a celebration of a family’s journey intertwined with Mumbai cricket.

Published on Apr 10, 2026