“If you are not playing at least one sport in your life, you definitely have given up one of your interests.” – Ar. Sackthi Muthu
We all are very well aware of the scale at which corporate sport events take place, especially in the cities of Mumbai & Delhi. There are corporates, mix corporates and even open tournaments of big budgets happening all the time. The main purpose of this, as we all know is to have some activities for the sports lovers outside their office lives.
Now let’s narrow it down to a specific set of industry and see if the concept works. As a matter of fact it does, big time. Celebrate Architecture, a brand now synonymous with the industry works with a vision to connect people within the similar industry, via organizing various recreational activities such as sports, arts, culture etc.
CricketGraph had an exclusive chat with Ar. Sackthi Muthu, Founder & President of the concept and now a brand named Celebrate Architecture. He shared with us the story behind this concept, the vision, the challenges, and the way forward.
How it all started?
It all started at the time when the city of Mumbai was down with recession, six years back. A 4 day tennis ball event consisting of 8 teams was organized and it garnered such a response that by the time the second edition was organized, the number of teams doubled up to 16, the duration increased and teams had their own jerseys apart from other things.
Seeing the development, we started expanding with similar people from the industry such as builders, contractors, suppliers etc. were also invited and after 6 years, 8 seasons of the tournament have been completed successfully.
Challenges
We did not face much challenge in the Initial years mainly due to the lower scale of the event. But as we grew and turned more professional, the teams increased and consequently the budget. Therefore sponsorship was a major issue. It still is. As we are catering to a specific industry, the numbers are not that high for the potential sponsors to be interested for the event. The brand value is definitely increasing so we are confident. This will be the single biggest challenge whenever a similar concept will be applied in some other industry.
The second challenge is the entry of new players in this market. As the teams are same in the industry it poses a threat to the team participation as they have to choose which one benefits them the most.
Ground availability and cost is another important matter which affects the cost.
Participation & Response
People from different companies have shown a lot of interest in participating in the event. Generally the players range anywhere between 25-35 years of age but we do encourage people beyond that category to play. We helped form a new team for a person who was past 50 but was eager to play. It’s more about pride now than anything else. All teams should also have a female player with a compulsion to bowl at least one over. So technically we have playing 12 instead of playing 11.
The brand is strong but probably not popular enough. Also it is not possible for everyone to play as there is limited number of teams. That’s why we started other activities such as soccer, bowling etc. so that sooner or later everyone gets to participate in some activity.
Future Plans
Currently the tournament is played in a 10 overs format. We would like to increase it to a 20 overs format. Also the duration of the event will increase so we will have to meet the challenges regarding costs for the same. We also plan to expand the brand geographically to Delhi and Bangalore whichever is feasible.
Cricket in Hong Kong
Cricket is very organized in Hong Kong. There is no restriction whatsoever with respect to age, or the level of game you have. You love the game, you play it.
Click here to view the previous editions of Celebrate Architecture Cricket Tournaments.
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Article By
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph
Shalini bhalekar is a selection tournament organised by MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) for Under-23 age group. Usually four teams play in this tournament, with each team having 15 playes. Tournament starts from 22nd September 2015 on Wankhede Stadium and S.P Cricket Academy, BKC, Mumbai.
Teams playing in this tournament are named on the legendary players of mumbai cricket,e.g. Sunil Gavaskar 11,Sachin Tenndulkar 11,etc.Players selected in this 
tournament are selected on the basis of current and last season’s performance in official MCA tournaments.Players performing in this tournament have a verry good chance to represent for mumbai U-23.This is one of the best platforms for youngster’s to prove themselves and achieve their cricket goals.
The four participating teams this year are Madhav Mantri XI, Naren Tamanhe XI, Chandrashekar Sant XI and Hemant Waingankar XI .
Click here to find out the list of players playing in Shailini Bhalekar Trophy 2015-16
Article by Aziz Shah, Editor – Mumbai @ www.cricketgraph.com
Rain gods played a spoil sport on 19th and 20th September in the mumbai cricket circles and that resulted in the cancelation of all Kanga league matches on 20th September.
As per reliable sources, one point was allocated to each participating kanga teams.
Click here to check the points and quotients as on 13September 2015
Riding on a superb unbeaten 106 runs by Deepak Khatri, 58 by Dinesh Dabas and good supports from Gaurav Chaudhary and Gaurav Gautam, Baba Tiles defeated K.N Colts by 44 runs on the RCN Open Cricket Tournament.
For KN Colts, the top performers were Aditya Srivastava 89 runs and Chetan Anand 53 runs.
Brief Scores:
Baba Tiles: 304/5 in 40 overs (Deepak Khatri 106*, Dinesh Dabas 58, Chetan Anand 1/27)
K.N Colts: 260/7 in 40 overs (Aditya Srivastava 89, Chetan Anand 53, Sarthak Verma 2/48)
Keep following CricketGraph for latest updates on local cricket activities around the city.
M.M Tournament
K.P Trophy
In the Women’s Under-19 selection committee meeting held at JMC College and attended by Ms. Asha Sharma, Ms. Sugandh, Ms. Karishma Dhawan, Ragini Malhotra (Convener) Ms. Renuka Dua (Chairperson) and Ms. Sunita Sharma (Chief Coach), following players have been selected for Under-19 Inter State Women’s Tournament.
Matches will be played at UNA, Himachal Pradesh from 22nd September 2015 onwards.
Pick Cook Cup
Riding on a superb all round performance by Ajay Negi (3/17, 56*) and Mayank Gusain’s 38 and Hritik’s 41 runs, Ace Cricket Academy defeated R.P Academy by 4 wickets in the Pick Cook Cup semi-final.
Ajay Negi was adjudged man of the match for his all round performance.
Brief Scores:
R.P Academy: 158 runs in 20 overs (Ajay Negi 3/17, Akshit Grover 2/29)
Ace Academy: 159/6 (Ajay Negi 56*, Hritik 41, Mayank Gusain 38)
Keep following CricketGraph for latest updates on local cricket activities around the city.