[ad_1]
Dehradun: Uttarakhand’s Gold Cup Cricket Tournament is all set to become one of the first sports activities to resume in the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The organisers of the tournament say that the event is likely to be held in November, although it would be at a relatively smaller scale in view of the virus outbreak and related restrictions.
The tournament has had a special place in Doon’s cricketing scenario. It was started in 1981 as a collective initiative of cricket enthusiast colleagues who worked at the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) office on Rajpur Road. PC Verma, one of the founders of the tournament, told TOI, “We were all enthusiastic about the sport. The idea of organising a national-level tournament in Dehradun came up during a lunch-time chat. We basically wanted to have a BCCI-approved tournament in our city.”
In the initial years, sponsorship and funds were difficult to come by, but the tournament started gaining national recognition in the 1990s and soon various state associations started sending their first-class cricketers to participate in the event.
Several renowned international cricketers like MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar played their initial matches in the tournament and later went on to make it big.
According to cricket watchers in the state, the Gold Cup tournament is believed to be one of the main reasons why the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) was given BCCI recognition last year. The event, in which 16 teams play, is now largely funded by the organisers and attended by big crowds every year.
“In the late 2000s, a team from Pakistan’s Quetta, too, participated in the event. We had to get clearance from the Union home ministry. Luckily, Mohsin Raza, a former first-class cricketer and presently serving as a minister in UP government, facilitated the necessary clearances. The Pakistanis had such a good time in Dehradun that most of them had tears in their eyes when they were leaving the city,” recalled Verma.
Mahim Verma, former vice-president of BCCI, who is also one of the organisers of the Gold Cup, recalled a few special memories pertaining to MS Dhoni’s participation in the tournament. Dhoni participated in the Gold Cup tournament in mid-2004, a few months before his national team debut. According to Verma, most of the matches took place in the Rangers Ground and both Dhoni and Sehwag “used to send the ball flying almost up to the Clock Tower which is quite far from the ground.” “I remember that Dhoni’s team scored 350-odd runs in the first innings and the chasing side lost the match by just two runs in the finals of the 2004 edition. Dhoni scored a century in that match but it was his bowling which turned the tables as he took the wicket of the opposite team’s best batsman with his dibbly-dobbly bowling,” he reminisced.
The tournament has had a special place in Doon’s cricketing scenario. It was started in 1981 as a collective initiative of cricket enthusiast colleagues who worked at the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) office on Rajpur Road. PC Verma, one of the founders of the tournament, told TOI, “We were all enthusiastic about the sport. The idea of organising a national-level tournament in Dehradun came up during a lunch-time chat. We basically wanted to have a BCCI-approved tournament in our city.”
In the initial years, sponsorship and funds were difficult to come by, but the tournament started gaining national recognition in the 1990s and soon various state associations started sending their first-class cricketers to participate in the event.
Several renowned international cricketers like MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar played their initial matches in the tournament and later went on to make it big.
According to cricket watchers in the state, the Gold Cup tournament is believed to be one of the main reasons why the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) was given BCCI recognition last year. The event, in which 16 teams play, is now largely funded by the organisers and attended by big crowds every year.
“In the late 2000s, a team from Pakistan’s Quetta, too, participated in the event. We had to get clearance from the Union home ministry. Luckily, Mohsin Raza, a former first-class cricketer and presently serving as a minister in UP government, facilitated the necessary clearances. The Pakistanis had such a good time in Dehradun that most of them had tears in their eyes when they were leaving the city,” recalled Verma.
Mahim Verma, former vice-president of BCCI, who is also one of the organisers of the Gold Cup, recalled a few special memories pertaining to MS Dhoni’s participation in the tournament. Dhoni participated in the Gold Cup tournament in mid-2004, a few months before his national team debut. According to Verma, most of the matches took place in the Rangers Ground and both Dhoni and Sehwag “used to send the ball flying almost up to the Clock Tower which is quite far from the ground.” “I remember that Dhoni’s team scored 350-odd runs in the first innings and the chasing side lost the match by just two runs in the finals of the 2004 edition. Dhoni scored a century in that match but it was his bowling which turned the tables as he took the wicket of the opposite team’s best batsman with his dibbly-dobbly bowling,” he reminisced.
[ad_2]
Source link