Glory beckons Guwahati gully cricketers

Neighbourhood sporting heroes get a chance to prove their mettle beyond their known pitch

Super Prize: Chance to cheer for KKR and meet Shah Rukh Khan Guwahati, Feb 18 : Aspiring Sachins who know their line and length but never got around to playing beyond the neighbourhood, will get their moment under the sun when the Sprite Gully Cricket gets under way here on March 2. The tournament will be spread across seven cities in four states — Calcutta, Bardhaman, Siliguri (West Bengal), Jamshedpur, Ranchi (Jharkhand), Patna (Bihar) and Guwahati (Assam). The league matches in the other cities will begin on February 19 onwards. “The venue for the Guwahati League will be finalised within a short time,” a spokesperson for the organisers said. The city winners will be richer by Rs 1 lakh in cash and also get a chance to cheer the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta when the third edition of the nation’s cricket carnival — DLF-Indian Premier League — gets under way on March 12. “There is more. The winners of the Super League played by the winners of the seven cities will also get Rs 3 lakh in cash and meet Shah Rukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly and other KKR members,” the organiser added. Last year, Sprite, an associate sponsor of KKR, launched the Sprite Nokia Para Cricket League to bring alive the character of the sport on the streets of Calcutta. The T10 format of the league was played across six venues in Calcutta by 32 para (neighbourhood) teams. Angshuman Dutta, a Class X student of the city who plays cricket in his apartment complex, thought “the concept was very exciting”. “We have a very good team in our locality and we will certainly try to qualify. This will be fun,” he added. A government employee and a cricket enthusiast, Subir Kanta Goswami, said: “We have played cricket for a long time. Though we are not Sachin Tendulkars, but we certainly have some skills which we would love to show off”. Goswami, 23, is also the captain of a para club. An initiative of Coca Cola India and organised in association with KKR to engage youths and promote cricket at the grassroots level, the championship will involve 1,400 players across the four states. “It is time for the small-time cricketers to try their hands against opponents beyond their own street. All that the players, in the age group of 15 to 24 years, need to do is log on to www.sprite.in and submit the forms at the designated centres in their respective cities. Altogether 32 teams will be selected through a lucky draw to play in every city league. In the first stage, 16 teams will be finally selected through a super-over game to play in the city leagues,” the organiser added. The winners of all the seven cities will then compete in the Super League in Patna and Calcutta. Last edition’s champions, Dotcom Sports of Calcutta, were sent to South Africa to cheer KKR in their matches in the 2nd DLF-IPL.