Fans want road named after Virat Kohli in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: After star batter Virat Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of the highest number of centuries in ODI cricket in the World Cup clash with South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, fans of the cricketer want the city to acknowledge the feat by naming a road after him.

As Virat Kohli is also on the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, a memorandum has been presented to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar to name a road after Virat Kohli.

The fans had earlier requested the BBMP to name two different roads after Karnataka Ratna actor Dr Puneeth Rajkumar and cricketer Virat Kohli.

Social activist Amaresh said a letter was written to the BBMP Chief Commissioner suggesting that the road in front of the Shantinagar bus terminal be named after late actor Dr Puneeth Rajkumar and 8th Cross road in Wilson Garden be named after Kohli.

Following the proposal, the BBMP Chief Commissioner has decided to hold a discussion with the government. “No official name has been given to the roads so far. We were told that it would be appropriate if the names of these two popular stars were given to the two roads”, he said.

Amaresh expressed his anger at the BBMP officials for showing no interest in the proposal. He said a complaint has been lodged with Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar against the officials for their laxity. “A year has passed since I wrote that letter, but the corporation has not shown any interest. Kohli has created a world record and we are insisting that the Deputy CM direct the BBMP officials to work on the proposal”, he said.