Cricket – a sport which brings an entire nation to a stand-still. Despite hockey being the national sport of India, Cricket is the most popular sport in the country. It’s a sport on which every other Indian has an opinion to give and almost every child once in his childhood aspires to be a cricketer. The cricketing world in India is best summed by saying that cricket is a religion and cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar are gods.
From Fifty Overs to Twenty-Twenty to Ten-Ten
With the cricketing history sporting back to the days of English rule, Indian cricket has come a long way, from winning the World Cup in 1983 to hosting the first ever Indian Premier League (IPL) T-20 match which changed the approach to international cricketing. Prior to the IPL, international cricket saw only the Test matches and Fifty Over matches. However, since the inception of IPL and its surge to popularity, the International Cricketing Council was forced to consider Twenty-Twenty as recognized version of the sport. With the introduction of shorter version of the game, there has been a notable increase in popularity of the sport worldwide.
The passion which drives the Indians into following cricket regularly is inspirational. A strong hierarchical structure to the domestic cricketing season allows the best selection process for the national cricket team. However with the recent induction of the shorter version of the game, and recent research indicating the preference towards the shorter version it’s not a surprise that selectors and organizers have initiated T-10 tournaments in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
All Roads Lead to Cricket!
Such is the popularity of cricket that one would find a cricket match at every nook of a society. Popularly referred to as “Gully” (Lane in Hindi) cricket, it’s a variation of sport which doesn’t have to be played on a proper cricket ground. As long as there are two teams to play the match, there is a game played. Whether it be under arm bowling or just 6 a side match, Gully cricket goes on. Usually the matches are never played with the leather ball but rather with tennis or rubber ball or sometimes even a plastic ball.
With the intention to reach out and give opportunities to the grass root level cricketers, the “Gully” cricket tournament has been played since the past couple of years. The tournament recently inaugurated its new season with a dazzling opening ceremony attended by several Bollywood celebrities including the brand ambassador, Reteish Deshmukh. With ten over a side match, a selecting committee has been set up to identify new talent and give the necessary exposure to non-first class playing players between the age of 15-24 years in tier 2 and 3 cities.
However that isn’t the only tournament for this version of the game. Several local tournaments are held for teams to compete and claim respective trophies. It’s a great chance for every kid to play in a tournament and enjoy the sport even more.
Play On Cricket
“Gully” cricket does prove that a lush green outfield and well laid out pitch isn’t necessary to play the sport. With the shorter versions of the game gaining popularity it wouldn’t be surprising to see “Gully” cricket hit the world stage.
