RDS Cricket Academy opting to bat first on their home ground made a handsome total of 186/9 in 35 overs with opener Vishwakant Pratap Yadav top scoring for his team. Opening the innings, wicket-keeper batsman Vishwakant Yadav went on to score a solid 68 runs off 93 balls, an innings which included 4 fours and a six. Apart from him, the rest of the players found it difficult to get going. Nikhil and Devansh with 3 wickets each were the pick of the bowlers from Lanka Cricket Academy.
Lanka Cricket Academy in reply received a tough fight from the RDS Cricket Academy bowlers but eventually they crossed the victory line successfully chasing down the score in 30 overs and winning the match by 5 wickets.
From playing cricket on the maidans of Mumbai to coaching Belgium national team, Mr Abhijit Khan, has come a long way. Recently, under his able aegis under the core leadership Team of Umair Butt ( Chairman Belgium Cricket Federation) Shahid ( Director Cricket National Team ) Shaikh Sheraz ( Captain Belgium National Cricket Team), Belgium secured the runner-up position in the European Cricket Championship, a T10 tournament that was played in Spain from September 13 to October 8.
A total of 15 teams participated in the marquee tournament. Belgium was slated in Group A, alongside teams like Spain, Norway, Sweden and Luxembourg. While Belgium, with a T20 ranking of beyond 40 was considered to be an underdog, the team raised many eyebrows with its stellar performance not only in the group stage but also at the qualifiers.
Coach Khan says “It was absolutely amazing to win the final of Group A. We beat Spain by 27 runs in the finals. We had a couple of weeks break before the qualifiers. So we returned home. At the airport there were a lot of celebrations and we were greeted like heroes. It was simply incredible.”
He adds, “Nobody expected us to win the finals. I just took over the coaching responsibility in July. Prior to taking up the role of Belgium’s head coach, I was involved with Brazil and Chile (2015-17), Germany (2018-present) and Netherlands (2020-present). In a matter of a couple of months, I traveled all across Belgium to pick the top players to represent the national team. I found a lot of talented cricketers from different nooks and corners. We came together and started training to achieve our mission, which was the European Cricket Championship (ECC).”
This year’s ECC was telecast worldwide for the first time. Mr. Khan just gave a simple message to his players, “Tora!Tora!Tora! It is a 1970 epic war film that showcases the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. I just wanted to convey to my players, attack!attack!attack! With respect to batting, hitting a boundary after every two balls and with regards to bowling, attacking the fifth and sixth stump line was my message to the team.” He also stressed on the fact that Belgium as a team had nothing to lose and asked the players to go out there and play a fearless brand of cricket.
Belgium went all the way to play the finals, however lost to a strong England XI. Throughout the tournament, Belgium put together some exceptional performances. Mr. Khan mentions, “After the finals, England XI head coach came to me and said, ‘We will learn how to play T10 from Belgium.’ These words from the coach of one of the best European teams is a true testament to our efforts.”
With this win, Mr. Khan does not want to stop. He wants to take Belgium cricket to higher levels. He avers, “I aspire to see Belgium qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup in the next three years. We will be preparing ourselves to play against the best in the business. I am also in the process of starting Belgium Cricket Academy and Center for Youth and Women’s Cricket Development. Such initiatives will help in developing the existing talent as well as bringing the young cricketers to the fore”
Played on a relatively slower turning wicket of Islam Gymkhama, it was an outright dominating performance from the Payyade players as they defeated Islam Gymkhana team in a very aggressive fashion. Islam Gymkhana batting first were cleaned up for 131 runs with their in-form opener Kaustub Pawar top scoring with 54 runs. From the bowlers, it was Mumbai Senior Team’s Dhrumil Matkar bringing in all his skills to craft a perfect fifer. Dhrumil returned with excellent bowling figures of 6/28 alongwith the experienced Pardeep Sahu who took 3/27.
Chasing the score of 132 looked like a mere formality as opener Bhupen Lalwani guided the chase with a brilliant 75* off 72 balls. Mumbai Senior Team player Bhupen smashed 11 fours and a six to guide Payyade Sports Club towards a comfortable win by 6 wickets.
New Hind Sporting Club after opting to bat first on their homeground posted a total of 272/10 in 68.4 overs. Most of their players chipped in with starts and provided cameos while Akshay Jambhekar at no.7 was the highest scorer with 59 runs off 74 balls. From the bowlers, Medium Pacer Akash Kharvi was the pick of the lot as he took 4/56 in 16 overs with 2 maidens. Apart from Akash, left arm pacer Darshan Mangukiya took 3 wickets for 62 runs.
Chasing 273, Automotive CC (Sponsors) successfully chased down the total in 55.5 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. Middle order players Mayur Sanap (43), Pushkaraj Chavan (43) and Sachin Sanghvi (37 runs) set the tone for the chase while lower order batters Jayshal Wadiyal and Akash Kharvi stitching a crucial 57* partnership for the 9th wicket. Jayshal changed the game with a match winning 60* off mere 47 balls while Akash who took 4 wickets also contributed with the bat chipping in with a run a ball cameo of 37* pushing Automotive CC (Sponsors) to a memorable 3 wicket win over New Hind SC.
Played at Matunga Gymkhana between Mohan Cricket Club vs Shree Lad Cricket Club, Mohan CC after being put to bat first were all out for 140 runs in 32.3 overs. The bowler who inflicted maximum impact was Suraj Singh who returned with excellent bowling figures to trouble the opposition team. Suraj who has earlier represented Mumbai at U16 and U19 levels showed great skills as he took 5/37 in 7.2 overs.
Shree Lad CC in reply chased down the score in 28.1 overs winning the match by 1 wicket in what proved to be a close shave encounter. Mohan CC bowlers gave a tough fight and did not allow the opposition to win easily. No.3 batsman Vivek Samogar held fort with a solid 49* off 73 balls batting with the tail to push his team cross the victory line.
Parse Gymkhana after opting to bat first at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed batting on the Wankhede Wicket notching up 383/9 in 70 overs. Openers Vikrant Auti (38 runs) and Sachin Yadav (84 runs) provided a perfect opening start which was further capitalized well by the experienced Aditya Tare who scored 60 runs off 69 balls. Nikhil Patil Jr. who came at no.4 was the highest scorer scoring a memorable ton on Wankhede, a feeling which every Mumbai batsman wants to experience! Nikhil scored an impressive 114 off 108 balls which had 9 fours and 4 sixes. All-rounder Vidyadhar Kamath fell just one short of a fifer courtesy a dropped catch of Nikhil as he was the pick of the bowlers with 4/100 in 23 overs taking some crucial wickets of Aditya Tare, Parag Khanapurkar and Sachin Yadav.
Chasing 384, Shivaji Park Gymkhana were all out for 253 runs with in-form batsman Ninad Kadam scoring 154 of those runs. Ninad coming at no.3 scored 154 off 151 balls smashing 20 fours and 2 sixes. Ninad looked excellent with the bat however he laced support from the other end as Parsee Gymkhana went on to win the match by 130 runs.
Mumbai, December 12: Pacer Harsh Tanna’s match-winning spell of 5 for 47 runs was the highlight of MIG Cricket Club’s 98-run victory against National Cricket Club on the second day, of the concluding Group-B league match of the Automotive Manufacturing-74th Police Invitation Shield Cricket Tournament 2021-2022, organised under the auspices of MCA and played at the National CC ground on Sunday.
MIG resuming at the overnight score of 308 for 6 wickets were dismissed for 335 runs in 68 overs. Kevin D’Almeida top-scored with a century knock of 100 (101b, 14×4, 2×6) runs while Anand Bais 82 and Pragnesh Kanpillewar 35 runs contributed to the total. Shashikant Kadam (3 for 55) and Ravinder Solanki (3 for 76) were National CC’s best bowlers.
In reply, National CC’s batting collapsed and they were bowled out for 237 runs in 47.1 overs. Chinmay Sutar 69, Vedant Murkar 62, and Sandeep Kunchikor 49 were the only National CC batters who managed to stay long at the crease. Tanna tormented the rival batsmen and was rewarded with a 5-wicket haul which sealed MIG’s big victory and a semi-final meeting with Parsee Gymkhana next weekend.
Meanwhile, Automotive Cricket Club (Sponsors XI) tasted success registering a 3-wicket win against New Hind Sporting Club in a Group-A match. However, they failed to advance to the next round as Payyade SC with 6 points booked their place in the last four round.
Hosts Mumbai Police Gymkhana also bowed out losing to Parkophene Cricketers by 161 runs in the crucial Group-D match at the Police Gymkhana ground. Parkophene Cricketers will now clash with defending champions Payyade Sports Club who had registered a quick 6-wicket win over Islam Gymkhana in a Group-A match which was completed on Saturday.
In Group-C, hot favourites Parsee Gymkhana continued with their domineering winning streak as they defeated Shivaji Park Gymkhana by 130 runs to complete an all-win record.
Brief scores – Group – A: Islam Gymkhana: 131 all out, in 29.3 5overs (Kaustubh Pawar 54, Salman Ahmed 41; Dhrumil Matkar 6/28, Pradeep Sahu 3/27) lost to Payyade Sports Club: 135/4 in 20.4 overs (Bhupen Lalvani 75*). Result: Payyade Sports Club won by 6 wickets.
New Hind Sporting Club: 272 all out in 68.4 overs (Akshay Jambhekar 59, Ajay Janusing 40, Pranav Kela 39; Akash Kharvi – 4/56, Darshan Mangukiya 3/62) lost to Automotive Cricket Club: 274/7 in 55.5 overs (Jayshal Wadiyal 60*, Mayur Sanap 43, Pushkaraj Chavan 43, Akash Kharvi 37*, Sachin Sanghvi 37; Sagar Jadhav 2/43). Result: Automotive Cricket Club won by 3 wickets.
Group – B: P.J. Hindu Gymkhana: 282 all out in 70 overs (Utkarsh Raut 67, Sachin Wagh 51, Bins Neyyoth 48, Hiken Shah 41; Kruthik Hanagawadi 3/45, Sujit Nayak 3/64) lost to Cricket Club of India: 283/3 in 52.4 overs (Rudra Dhandey 123 (104b, 22×4), Akash Anand 60, Sujit Nayak 42*; Jitendra Paliwal 2/88). Result: Cricket Club of India won by 7 Wickets.
MIG Cricket Club: 335 all out in 68 overs (Kevin D’Almeida 100 (101b, 14×4, 2×6), Anand Bais 82, Pragnesh Kanpillewar 35; Shashikant Kadam 3/55, Ravinder Solanki 3/76) beat National Cricket Club: 237 all out in 47.1 overs (Chinmay Sutar 69, Vedant Murkar 62, Sandeep Kunchikor 49; Harsh Tanna 5/74). Result: MIG Cricket Club won by 98 Runs.
Group – C: Parsee Gymkhana: 383/9 in 70 overs (Nikhil Patil (Jr.) 114 (108b, 9×4, 6×6), Sachin Yadav 84, Aditya Tare 60, Ishan Mulchandani 45, Vikrant Auti 38; Vidyadhar Kamat 4/100, Saksham Jha 3/90) beat Shivaji Park Gymkhana: 253 all out in 61.2 overs (Ninad Kadam 154 (151b, 20×4, 2×6); Yash Dicholkar 3/97). Result: Parsee Gymkhana won by 130 runs.
Bombay Gymkhana: 282 all out in 66.1 overs (Swapnil Bivalkar 65, Sidharth Mhatre 55, Kumar Boresa 50, Yashraj Malap 34; Amol Bhagat 3/25, Asif Shaikh 3/47, Yash Chavhan 3/88)
Sainath Sports Club: 333/5 (including 48 penalty runs for bowling 4 overs short) in 48.1 overs (Sachin Solanki 107 (104b, 14×4, 4×6), Karan More 57*, Umesh Gurjar 37, Bharat Patil 32*). Result: Sainath Sports Club won by 5 wickets.
Group – D: MCA Colts: 266 all out in 61.1 overs (Kaushik Chikhlikar 86, Aditya Dhumal 63, Onkar Jadhav 60, Suved Parkar 35; Vinayak Bhoir 6/52, Aishwary Surve 3/65) beat Karnatak Sporting Association: 174 all out in 36.2 overs (Rakesh Prabhu 47, Aishwary Surve 37; Shashank Attarde 7/54). Result: MCA Colts won by 92 runs.
Parkophene Cricketers: 310 all out in 67.2 overs (Akhtar Shaikh 83, Ajay Mishra 55*, Sahil Jadhav 49, Akshat Jain 41; Yogesh Patil 4/32) beat Mumbai Police: 149 all out in 46.1 overs (Amit Jadhav 44, Shrikant Limbole 42; Arun Yadav 4/23, Karsh Kothari-3/58). Result: Parkophene Cricketers won by 161 runs.
Courtesy: Gordon D Costa
Mumbai: The Bombay Gymkhana, under its CSR initiative ‘BG Cares’ will be conducting their annual free cricket coaching camp for boys under-19 and under-23 and girls under-19 at the Gymkhana Ground, from December 16th, 2021 till May 31st, 2022.
The 5-month Bombay Gymkhana Cricket Academy coaching camp, supported by Amba Shree Foundation, and the trainees will be coached by experienced Cricket Coach Farhad Daruwala. Farhad apart from being an experienced Coach with close to 15 yrs of coaching experience also leads Parsee Cylists Team in MCA Kanga League. Farhad has played for Gujarat and also played Top Division Cricket representing Parsee Gymkhana. Apart from that, the Head Coach of Bombay Gymkhana was involved with Rajasthan Royals team in IPL while he has also had assignments with County teams like Lancashire, Hampshire, Surrey, Essex & England A teams.
The camp will be held from Tuesday to Friday from 3.30 pm to 6.00 pm. Trials will be conducted to select 25 candidates in each of the three categories. The selection process for boys under-23 will be conducted on Tuesday, December 14, and boys and girls under-19 will have to report for selection trials on Wednesday, December 15.
All interested cricketers should report at the Bombay Gymkhana ground at 11.00 am in white cricket clothes and shoes. Candidates must carry their proof of age (birth certificate) and Aadhar card copy and also their MCA registration card if they are registered.
The cut-off date for under-19 is 1.9.2002 and for under-23 is 1.9.1998. Please note that only those young cricketers who are keen and willing to be trained for the entire 5-month duration of the coaching camp should attend the Bombay Gymkhana training program.
For further details please contact Bombay Gymkhana, Sports Office on contact telephone number – 022 22070311.
Courtesy: Gordon D Costa
In the last 5 years, Morbi has touched new heights in cricket, from a small unknown district a few years back where word ‘cricket’ was not even associated with it, now Morbi has underwent a major sporting revamp courtesy the cricket revolution brought in by Coach Nishant Jani & his team from Axel Sports Academy.
ICC Level 2 Certified Nishant Jani who is the Head Coach of Morbi District Cricket Association and Assistant Coach of Saurashtra Men’s Senior Team is also the founder and head coach of Axel Sports Academy which is one of the most advanced and biggest cricket academies in Morbi District. In the last few years, many students from Axel Academy have gone on to represent Saurashtra and Gujarat’s age group teams. Even many First Class and International Cricketers come at Axel Sports Academy to practice.
To further improve the standard of Cricket in Morbi, Nishant Jani, the Head Coach of Axel Sports Academy has collaborated with the legendary South African Cricketer Gary Kirsten and South African Pacer Morne Morkel to train on multiple aspects which can contribute on the development of cricket in Morbi. Nishant went through an 8 hour interactive video session with both the International Cricketers. The topics discussed in the interactive session included the advent & the rise of T20’s, Team Culture and Effective Communication.
Nishant Jani shared with Cricketgraph- “Obviously to discuss about topics like T20’s, communication and team culture from one of the most acclaimed International Cricketers is a different experience. Both Gary and Morne have played a lot of International Cricket, Gary has Captained the African Team, Coached the Indian Team, so obviously there is a lot to learn from him not only as a cricketer but also as a coach on how to handle and manage certain things in cricket”
Dilip Vengsarkar XI opting to bat first posted a total of 261/9 in 90 overs with top order batsman Shreyas Hirelar top scoring for the team. Shreyas scored 70 runs to guide his team towards a solid total on board. Apart from Shreyas, Sarvesh Yadav (40 runs), Pranay Kapadia (39) and Prahlad Iyer (34*) contributed with cameos. From the bowlers, Medhankar Lavesh with 4/52 was the pick of the lot.
Sunil Gavaskar XI in reply were all out for 146 runs in 58.2 overs with Aniket Singh being the shining grace scoring 56 runs. All-rounder Prahlad Iyer with 3/21 was the pick of the lot. Dilip Vengsarkar XI batted for 14 overs in the 2nd innings for the loss of wicket at the end of the game’s play where they were declared winners on 1st innings lead.