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Eyeing the big league, UTCA announces T20 tourney of its own
As many as six teams — Rose Zone, Rock Zone, Sukhna Zone, Plaza Zone, Terrace Zone and Leisure Zone — will be vying for the trophy at the sporting extravaganza that will begin on August 4
Looking to emulate their neighbouring Punjab Cricket Association’s recent success, the UT Cricket Association (UTCA) has announced a T20 league of their own. A first for the body, the league will be organised from August 4 to 20 at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium.
As many as six teams — Rose Zone, Rock Zone, Sukhna Zone, Plaza Zone, Terrace Zone and Leisure Zone — will be vying for the trophy at the sporting extravaganza, christened as the Shahid Chandrashekhar Azad Memorial T20 Cricket Tournament.
Rose Zone will be led by Manan Vohra, while Harnoor Pannu and Sandeep Sharma will captain the Rock and Plaza Zones respectively. For Terrace and Sukhna Zones, the reins have been handed to Bhagmender Lather and Mohammed Arsalan Khan. Arjun Azad, meanwhile, will lead the Leisure Zone.
Sharing his excitement ahead of the league, set to feature as many as 90 cricketers, UTCA president Sanjay Tandon said, “We want to not only provide a platform to our pool of players but also look for emerging talented cricketers. This would help our selectors eventually selecting various age group teams for the upcoming season.”
“I had attended a BCCI meeting some months ago and they were very keen that the affiliated state units should organise their T20 leagues. Taking that into consideration, we have decided to conduct the league,” he said, adding that two spinners — Murugan Ashwin from Tamil Nadu and Raghav Goyal from Haryana — will be joining UTCA as guest players this season and will be seen in action during the league.
“There were slots for spinners in our senior men’s team. So, we roped in these two as they have done well in IPL as well,” Tandon, who is also looking forward to getting full membership from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for UTCA in coming months, said.
“There have been states who have taken four, five and even seven years to get the BCCI full-membership. We have done well as an associate state unit since 2019. We hope to become a full member unit soon hopefully,” he said.
A total of 33 matches including two semifinals and the summit clash would be played over a span of 17 days.
The action will kick off at 9.30 am, followed by the second tie at 1.30 pm each day. The tournament will be played as per the BCCI norms and will be closely monitored by board representatives. An anti-corruption unit has also been formed to stop any kind of corruptive activities during the tournament.
The league will be live streamed on Fancode and the team jerseys will be unveiled on August 3.
