KSCA edged out the old and rang in the new when it replaced Chinnaswamy Stadium's foundation stone with a memorial wall for cricketer Rahul Dravid on Monday.

"They have thrown the very foundation stone of our world-famous Chinnaswamy stadium," said Prasanna Kumar, former member, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), "They have removed one historical monument for another. This is not right."

The foundation stone, laid by then chief minister Veerendra Patil and then Indian National Congress president S Nijalingappa on 18 May 1969, has now been dumped amid waste in a corner of the stadium.

Cause of stadium

This has not gone down well for those who had fought for the cause of the stadium.
 
"I was one among those who took the issue of this stadium to the chief minister and we insisted on his taking up the project," said Prasanna Kumar, "Later, he took it up and laid the foundation stone to today's stadium. Hence, it is as precious as the stadium."

But Skyline constructions, the firm that teamed up with KSCA to build the memorial wall for Dravid, denies this.
 
 "We haven't replaced any foundation stone," said a senior official in Skyline constructions, "The space was given to us by KSCA exclusively for the purpose. We have used it."

Blame game

KSCA members, on the other hand, blame their own officials for replacing the foundation stone.

"The decision was taken by a few members in KSCA, especially by secretary Brijesh Patel. Not all were aware of it," said a KSCA member, who didn't want to be named. "This is wrong. We were unaware of the fact and have got to know about it now only," he added. 

But Patel dismissed the charges as "baseless".

"It's false to say the foundation stone has been replaced," said Patel. "It has been removed so that it can be placed in front of the stadium."

10,000? Errrr...

And now, the wall that was touted to have been made of 10,000 bricks to honour Rahul Dravid's 10,000 runs, doesn't seem to have those many bricks, after all.

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and Skyline developers had gone to town about the 10,000-brick wall for Dravid, which was unveiled by Sachin Tendulkar on Monday.

"Rahul Dravid is the pride of India," said Avinash Prabhu, managing director, Skyline group, "Hence, we have constructed a wall that symbolises him." But "we can't find 10,000 bricks," said a source in KSCA.

"It's not right to do such things with a monument constructed to honour a great cricketer," said a former cricketer. 

The constructors, however, have their own logic. "Yes, the bricks are not 10,000 in number. Huge cement blocks, which we have used, can't be placed in that space technically. Hence, we have carved 10,004 bricks over the huge blocks used," a senior official in Skyline said.