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Cricket PlayersFundamental is to invent a game to test who is the best cricketer in the world: UKC chairman Ravi Thakran
Cricketing superheroes will go one on one against each other in the cage styled UKC dome in Dubai with the right to be crowned the best in the world
Ultimate Kricket Challenge, the new revolutionary twist on cricket, will be back with a bigger, better and richer season 2 in the Q1 of 2021. The series that is captivating sports fan, like no other format, with its unique rules and no holds barred approach will be back with a bigger pool of superstars in the next season. The cricketing superheroes will go one on one against each other in the cage styled UKC dome in Dubai with the right to be crowned the best in the world, along with $1 million as prize money.
The first exhilarating season which will run till January 1, 2021 has six global superstars as contenders – Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Rashid Khan, Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell. The first of its kind, this 16-match tournament has new cricket rules with each match consisting of 2 UKC contenders squaring off against each other across four innings of 15-balls each in every match.
Excerpts of a conversation with UKC chairman Ravi Thakran
What is the insight behind a property like Ultimate Kricket Challenge?
The three founders of the game are Ravi Thakran, Chairman UKC, Dr Vikram Puttaswamy, Vice Chairman UKC and a scion of sporting equipment business family from the sports capital of Ludhiana, Kunal Sharma.
The basic fundamental to invent a game with a twist was to truly test who is the best cricketer in the world. We see in other variations of the game that it’s more than one person it takes to win a game, in UKC it’s all about that one player, that one superstar and that one legend. There is only winner in UKC.
Does cricket really need another shorter avatar?
Although cricket is thriving in India, in other regions in the world it is struggling against other sports such as football, through various reasons. Cricket has to embrace the digital generation, you don’t have 8 hours to capture the imagination of the youth, and you have minutes if not seconds to grab their attention. That’s why we know for the wide spectrum of cricket variations we have to introduce them to the aspects which make cricket the most exciting sport in the world, they then we hope will go on to embrace other variations of the sport.
What will be different about the tournament?
The tournament introduces a number of firsts in world cricket which have never been seen before. First of all the main part of the game is it’s a 1 vs 1 game, there aren’t 11 players per side. We will be unveiling new bat technology. Fans can hear and see every aspect of the game. There are no time-outs, stoppages for rain or bad conditions, its 15 balls per innings of non-stop enthralling action.
What are the rules?
The rules are deliberately very simple, there are 15 balls per innings with two innings per match.
- 2 main players only they can bat
- 1 ace who can only bowl 14 balls max over the two innings they can also field
- 1 wicketkeeper
- Batsmen can score 1,2,3,4, 6 or 12. However, if they want to accumulate the run they must run to the other end at least once, regardless if they hit a 4 or 6 for example.
- The batsmen can get out in the same methods as traditional cricket i.e. lbw, caught, run-out and bowled.
Is this going to be an annual property or one off?
Each year there will be at least 4 tournaments held quarterly. UKC is about growing the sport of cricket and given the short length of tournament it means we can host multiple tournaments without disturbing the current cricketing calendar.
It’s a private league. How do current players get featured? Is there an agreement with respective boards?
We want the biggest talent in world cricket to participate in UKC, only then we will truly know who the best player in the world is. We are completely independent of any board, however we are willing to work with any board who wants to work with us.
