Srinagar, Sept 14: The much fan fared Night Cricket tournament being played in Gani Memorial Stadium, Rajouri Kadal Srinagar culminated with the grand final today.
The tournament was organized by Gani Memorial Cricket Association in collaboration with J&K Sports Council.
The final match of the tournament was played between Makhdoomi-XI and Kashmir-XI.
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Makhdoomi-XI after winning the toss elected to bowl, a decision which somewhat seemed to go well in their favour initially but it was the heroics of Abid Nabi who scored 68 runs to spoil their party. J&K’s former opener and flamboyant batter Adil Reshi also contributed 27 runs to the team total. Kashmir-XI piled up a huge task for their opponents scoring 191 with the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted quota of 20 overs. For Maqdoomi-XI, Sameer Bell and Rafiq Baba scalped 3 and 2 wickets respectively while other bowlers looked out of sorts.
In response Makhdoomi-XI fell like a pack of cards and none of their batters except Momin Sami and Sajad Ganai could offer any challenge to the tight line bowled by the opponents. Momin’s 62 runs and Sajad’s 26 was the only saving grace for the team which bundled at 137 runs.
For Maqdoomi-XI, Abid Nabi and wrist spinner Gowhar claimed 3 wickets each handing and helping the team lift the coveted Gani Memorial T-20 Cup by 54 runs.
The former ace cricketer of J&K Abid Nabi was awarded player of the match. He was also declared player of the series as well as best bowler of the tournament.
Winning team received a cash prize of rupees fifty thousand while as runner up were awarded rupees twenty five thousand.
Divisional Sports officer Nuzhat Farooq presided over the function as chief guest while as Maqsood Ahmad Deputy Manager; Gani Memorial Stadium was guest of honour on the occasion.
The Chief Guest distributed the prizes among the participants in the end and assured them of all the support from J&K Sports Council in future.
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Many cricket buffs praised the J&K Sports Council’s special initiative ‘My Youth My Pride’ which they felt offers equal opportunity to all players to showcase their skills.
A motorcyclist was killed and two of his pillion-riders injured after a two-wheeler they were plying on collided with a tipper Pahalgam area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Reports reaching GNS said that an accident took place between Tipper bearing registration number JK 13C 0290 and motorcycle bearing number JK03K –1852 at Lidroo Pahalgam, resulting in critical injuries to the motorcyclist Manzoor Ahmad Bhat and two pillion riders namely Abdul Ahad Mir son of Ali Mohd Bhat and Rouf Ahmad Bhat son of Gh Rasool Bhat – all residents of Krashangam Aishmuqam.
The injured trio was evacuated from the site to PHC Pahalgam, where the motorcyclist Manzoor Ahmad Bhat succumbed to his injuries.
Confirming it, a police official told GNS that they have taken cognizance into the incident for further investigations.
Former International cricketer and ex-skipper of Sri Lanka, Sanath Jaysuriya on Saturday said that the Kashmir Valley is a unique place for the cricketers and that more youngsters from Jammu &Kashmir can represent the country.
In a brief and exclusive chat with Asian News Hub (ANH), the legend cricketer stated that there is everything available in the Valley and many of the youngsters have been representing India at present. “With having everything in place, more youngsters from J&K can represent India in the future,” he said.
He further added that he visited a private school here today to interact with the budding cricketers and students here.
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The interaction with them was good, he said, adding that only hard work will help the youngsters to achieve the goal.
Appealing people from Sri Lanka to visit Kashmir, the former international cricketer said that the Valley is one of the best places in the world and the people should visit here.
The auction for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), underway at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, Maharashtra, saw ‘Delhi Capitals’ franchise making a successful bid to bag Kashmir-based Cricketer Jasia Akhtar for an amount of rupees 20 lakh.
As pert GNS report, Akhtar, a right-hand batter hailing from Braripora village of Shopian, has been playing for Rajasthan state team for past two years. The top-order batter, who previously played for Punjab, Trailblazers and India Reds, was recently appointed to take reins of Rajasthan team as skipper.
Jasia who now has become the lone cricketer to feature in WPL from Kashmir, is learnt to have received a call for National camp for India women’s national team in 2017 – but was unable to find a place in the playing eleven.
The other Cricketer who features alongside Jasia in the auction list from Jammu and Kashmir is Sarla Devi. The latter might however fail to make the cut this time around as the organizers are supposed to auction a maximum of 90 players for the inaugural league – scheduled to begin from March 4, 2023.
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Notably, the auction saw Indian opener Smriti Mandhana being the top buys so far, with RCB splurging Rs 3.4 crore for her.