Chandigarh youth embark on gully to cricketing success
As many as 2,800 teenagers from 200 teams found themselves engaged in the U-14 to U-18 cricket meet, aimed at steering Chandigarh’s youth away from falling into drugs and crime
A 32-ball 100 from 17-year-old Akhilesh Singh Yadav at the ongoing T-10 Gully Cricket tennis-ball tournament bode well not just for his team, but his future in the sport as well.
Son of a security supervisor at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Akhilesh, a Class 12 student, is now planning to take up cricket training courtesy the exposure he received at the UT Cricket Association (UTCA) and Chandigarh Police-organised meet.
Much like Akhilesh, 2,800 cricketers from 200 teams found themselves engaged in the U-14 to U-18 meet, aimed at steering youth away from falling into drugs and crime, over the last couple of days.
The brainchild of UTCA chief Sanjay Tandon, the Gully Cricket was envisaged to provide the youth a platform to showcase their talent in collaboration with Chandigarh Police. Tandon went back in time and recalled how such a tournament was organised in Chandigarh almost a decade ago. He met the Chandigarh director general of police and the tournament took shape.
In view of the enthusiastic response from participants, the tournament is now set to become an annual feature. Sharing his thoughts about the T-20 tournament, this is what Tandon said, “T-10 cricket is the shortest format of the play and we realised which can further sharpen the cricketing talent of youth residing in slums, villages of Chandigarh. Youth who are engaged in petty crime and drug abuse simply need to be steered in the right direction.”
UTCA selectors have also been stationed at the matches to scout for talent. The event also saw two women teams enrolling. The final will be played under the floodlights at the Sector 16 stadium on April 23.
Meanwhile, exhibition matches have also been organised on weekends during the 18-day long tournament involving various teams like Administration XI, Councilor XI, Press Club XI, CA XI.
On being asked why UTCA aimed to scout for U-18 cricketers through a tournament being played using a tennis ball, Tandon said, “We ensured the safety of each cricketer playing in the tournament. This tournament is being played with a tennis ball, for a reason, it won’t hit the young players like a leather ball. Our selectors are keeping their eyes on every match to pick the best cricket talent. The outstanding players from this tournament will be selected by UTCA to mentor further on their cricketing skills so they can represent Chandigarh in upcoming BCCI tournaments.”
The winning team will fetch ₹51,000, while the runner-up team will be felicitated with ₹31,000. The semifinalists will be given ₹11,000 each.
