The current pandemic situation has affected one and all, and one of the most affected sectors within the cricket community are the Maalis / Groundsman of Mumbai cricket.
These difficult times have brought various human dimensions / emotions in play, some of them have become reclusive, others are going with the flow and there are those who have decided to take it upon themselves and selflessly help out others in need.
One such humanitarian & leadership act was recently demonstrated by Vihang Sarnaik, who decided to help the maalis & groundsman of Mumbai. Vihang is an active politician and an apex member of the Mumbai Cricket Association and he used this strength to bring about a positive change in the cricket community.
Vihang pulled out the entire list of official maalis from MCA within Mumbai & distributed one months ration / essentials.
A short while back cricketgraph had initiated a campaign for groundsmen called as “Maali ko do Taali” which received tremendous support from within & beyond Mumbai.
Speaking with Cricketgraph, Vihang shared “I tried my best to support our Maalis and groundsmen who take care of all the maidans in Mumbai. With food items including rice, wheat, cooking oil, dal, salt, sugar, tea etc sustainable for a month. This is a small effort I felt I should make as a cricket lover and i hope it brings some relief to these individuals & their families. If you come across any such needy who needs help or guidance please remember i am just a call away”
Vihang so far has ensured assistance to atleast 65 maalis whom he has distributed personally across all regions of Mumbai and MMR while he states that as and when numbers increase, shall provide more in those regions whoever is in need.
The 1 month Grocery Kit which each Maali received:
- 2kg oil
- Chai 1/2 kg
- Sugar – 2kg
- Aata – 3kg
- Rice – 3kg
- Tur daal – 2kg
- Salt – 1kg
Some Snaps from his visit to the maidans-
There are numerous groundsmen across India whose only source of Income is by cleaning and maintaining the wickets to ensure the cricketers can play at their best. Their contribution to the outcome of the matches as well as to a player’s career have been the most unnoticeable aspects of the game. Especially on public grounds like Azad Maidan, Matunga Gymkhana, Cross Maidan where Maalis require our help.
To host a game of any level from local, Club to International level, groundsmen toil hard for hours under the sun and rain. They surpass challenging conditions to help us play at our full potential.
They prepare and maintain the playable wickets where the ball speeds away, turns and the pitches which shape the destiny of players as well as the teams. Yet their hard work is not always noticed under the spotlight and their incentive remains to be the occasional praises or appreciation from the cricketers. Their community despite being such crucial contributors in this game of cricket seems to be far away from the glamorous planet which Indian Cricket has become. Usually, a groundsman employed by a Cricket Association or BCCI has a somewhat decent level of security compared to the ones who work at public maidans.
Amidst this time, it’s them who have suffered the biggest hit, with Cricket matches delayed, cancelled or rescheduled for the next few months. The groundsmen/maalis of the public maidans will be facing tough times to run their livelihood. What’s more, many of them are sole earners of the family whose income depends on the matches being played on a daily basis. With no cricket games to be played, the fate of their income also seems to be in dilemma for the coming months.
In an initiative to help these people in whatever capacity we can, we at Cricketgraph have come up with an initiative called “MAALI KO DO TAALI” where any person or any level of cricketer can make a contribution whose proceeds will go towards the relief of Groundsman & all the other aspects of cricket where the money can be of help.
Link to participate in the initiative-
Maali Ko Do Taali Campaign to raise funds for Cricket Groundsmen & Maali
Cricket across the world as well as in India is widely followed. Most of the levels below IPL and Indian Cricket is hardly aware amongst the masses. In Mumbai alone, on an average 500+ local level matches are played everyday across various levels. Across these matches, everyday there are players who come up with outstanding performances.
It is important to motivate such cricketers who often go unnoticed. It’s important that relevant people at the right time stand up for the cause. Cricketgraph which endeavors in promoting cricket from its grassroots just got the right partner in TYGER Sports.
One of the leading brands in Cricket-Tyger Sports has joined hands with Cricketgraph. Tyger Sports has taken an initiative to felicitate bowlers across Mumbai’s Club & Corporate Cricket. With T20 and T10 witnessing tremendous growth, it has slowly become a batsman’s game despite bowlers slogging it out equally. Most of the times, the bowlers are often dwarfed with batsman taking a better chunk of the limelight. However, Cricketgraph in partnership with Tyger Sports will be keeping a tab on the bowlers who are performing well in Mumbai Cricket.
The Winners will be awarded Tyger Sports T-shirts, Caps & other Cricket Merchandise. Also their performances will be highlighted and published on Cricketgraph website & its social media handles. This partnership will be exclusive for Purple Cap which will be for the max wickets and Yellow Cap for the maximum votes (most popular player).
Here are the Tyger Sports Winners for the month of February’20
Mihir Kumar Shah from SKP Athletics-TYGER SPORTS Purple Cap Winner for February’20
Mihir Shah is one of the experience bowlers in Mumbai Club Cricket. The left arm spinner has been amongst the wickets since quite a few seasons. For the uninitiated, Mihir is a strike bowler and a senior member of the SKP Athletics team. Mihir’s recent performances in the Bombay Junior Shield made him an ideal candidate for the coveted Purple Cap. In the Bombay Junior Shield, Mihir came up with a spell of 5/10 in 8 overs alongwith 4 maidens vs Poisar Brothers. He also took an impressive 4/31 vs Aiming Master CC.
Mihir on the back of his impressive spells played a crucial role in his team’s wins. As a result, Mihir was rightly adjudged the TYGER Sports Purple Cap Winner for the month of February’20.
Karan Patil from Mandvi Muslim Sports Club-TYGER Sports Yellow Cap Winner for February’20
One thing Karan Patil has definitely proved is that he enjoys a lot of popularity in the Mumbai Cricketing Circles. Karan was won the TYGER Sports Yellow Cap (Most Popular Player) by a massive vote margin of 1592 votes. Karan plays from Mandvi Muslim Sports Club & he is a slow left arm orthodox spinner. Karan had taken a match winning 5/39 vs Khandala CC in the Bombay Junior Shield’20 which certainly brought him into limelight.
The Winners were awarded ICC Approved Tyger Sports Cricket T-Shirt which is ideal for wearing during matches. The T-shirts are finely crafted taking in note the players requirements where they have to sweat it out under extreme conditions. Apart from that, the winners were also awarded Certificates for their outstanding performances.
Know more about the brand:
ICC Approved TYGER Sports partners with Cricketgraph for TYGER Bowler of the Month
The grassroot cricket in any corner of the world more often than not goes unnoticed despite the fact that any player who reaches International Cricket has to spend good amount of years playing local and club level cricket in the beginning. A player does not reach International or First Class level directly, it is from the grassroot level, a player goes on to become a Domestic or an International Cricketer.
Performances at grassroot level needs to be appreciated as it keeps the players pumped up. Also the very fact when players start to realize that their performances at local level are now getting appreciated, the overall quality of the game also improves. Thanks to Zbat.in for taking a brilliant initiative to laud Club & Corporate cricketers with Purple Cap (Most Runs) and Yellow Cap (Most Popular) every month.
This initiative is indeed benefitting the cricketing ecosystem giving talented cricketers a platform where their performances are getting noticed.
Here are the Z-Bat Club Cricket Cap Winners for the Month of February’20
Manan Bhatt- Z-Bat Orange Cap Leader for the month of February’20
One of the youngest players at the age of 15 to participate in the MCA Bombay Junior Shield Tournament this year, right handed Manan Bhatt since his early days has been one promising batsman who has often came up with very good performances in various tournaments. Manan is also amongst the top scorers this season in Bombay Junior Shield where he has come up with some brilliant half centuries.
Representing Friends CC, Manan’s 68 ball 84 at the middle order vs Bombay Union CC or his run a ball 93 vs Young National CC are some of the testimonies of his promise with the bat. What’s more, Bhatt’s knock of 93 also helped his team won in a commanding manner. Hence, it was on the back of his consistent batting this season, Manan won the Z-bat Orange Cap for the month of February’20
Vinay Kunwar- Yellow Cap Leader (Most Popular Player) for the month of February’20
If you talk about consistency, Vinay Kunwar has been one player who has impressed one and all with his consistent batting in the MCA Bombay Junior Shield. Playing for Amar CC, Vinay Kunwar smashed 3 gritty half centuries in the tournament and the best part is his team won on all the 3 occassions. Vinay scored a 59 ball vs Bombay Gymkhana, then a solid 60 ball 50 vs Thane Friends CC followed by a patient 51 off 81 balls vs Milton Cricket Club.
With that amount of consistency, he certainly became a vital cog for his team while also got popular amongst the players community as he won the Yellow Cap with a massive margin of 428 votes which is exactly a 105 votes more than his nearest competitor Amar Narkar who plays for Gamdevi Cricketers.
The Z-Bat Orange Cap Winner was awarded with a swanky new Cricket Willow worth Rs 2400/– from Zbat.in while the Yellow Cap Winner won a handsome cash voucher worth Rs 2400/- which he can avail at the Z-bat Clinic to get a new bat or for any of their other services. Adding to this, players would also be able to avail an unique experience of an official tour of the Z bat clinic situated in Parel.
About the Brand-
Z-bats is deemed as the revolutionary brand in the market which aims at professionalizing the game of cricket by scientifically manufacturing the bats for players, Since their inception, they have been striving to flourish with new ideas and they continue to do so. Cricketgraph also has been the endorser of new ideas and innovations throughout its journey. Cricketgraph and Z bats have officially come together as brand partners to mark a new journey of game development and innovation. Both of them have tied hands for further projects and a new partnership.
Zbat Website-
Know more about the brand-
Mumbai Cricket Association XI after being put to bat first completely didn’t disappoint posting a very competitive total of 181/6 in 20 overs. Even though their innings lacked a big knock but their middle order players chipped in well. Jeetinder Dhawan (41 off 30), Siddarth Chavda (48 off 37) & Vijay Singh (37 off 22) played well top scoring for the team. From the bowlers, Seshadri Govirdhan with 2/35 in 4 overs was the pick of the lot.
Chasing 182 at just above 9 runs per over is not the easiest of tasks on any given day but the good start by Chembur Gymkhana openers ensured they were right in the game. Openers Pranav Punjabi (36 off 39) and Ganesh Rai stitched a massive 121 run opening stand in mere 81 balls which certainly made things easy for Chembur Gymkhana. Ganesh Rai steered the chase as he went on to score a fluent 82 off 47 balls laced with 12 fours and 1 six. Pavan Patheja (34 off 18) and Chirag Amin (20* off 13) at no.3 & 4 played the finishers role to perfection as Chembur Gymkhana crossed the target with 7 wkts and 2 balls to spare.
Ganesh Rai for his brilliant 82 was declared “man of the match”
Scorecard Link-
https://www.crichq.com/matches/833464/2nd_innings
Maulik’s ton goes in vain as Osians clinch an Commanding win in the Gannon Dunkerly Tournament’20
India First Insurance batting first at Asahi Glass Factory, Taloja posted a big total of 201/4 in 20 overs. Opener Akshay Gaikwad top scored with 54 runs off 33 balls. Besides him, him all-rounder Babli Sharma at the middle order played the finishers knock scoring a brilliant 50* off 24 balls. Babli’s knock consisted 6 fours and 1 sixes. Babli has been a crucial player for Indiafirst since few seasons. Babli has became a vital cog for his team often coming up with crucial knocks at the middle or lower middle order. However, in this particular match, it was Rugved More from opposite team who attracted maximum attention.
FCC Sunrisers in reply could only muster a total of 181/6 in 20 overs. Opener Rugved More impressed one and all with his impressive strokeplay. Despite minimal support from the other end, Rugved kept on plonking bowlers with ease. More smashed 7 sixes and 11 boundaries en-route his commendable knock of 125 runs off 71 balls.
FCC lost the match by 20 runs but Rugved More grabbed all the attention with his enterprising knock. It was because of his fighting knock, More earned the “Player of the Match” award.
Scorecard Link-
Rugved More’s rock-solid 87 and Sahil’s 7/43 steers Kalyan to a win in the Kalpesh Koli Tournament
Jolly Friends Sports Matunga 1 Premier League 2019-20 – 14th March 2020 in Mumbai – Wrong Uns after being put to bat first at Dadar Union Cricket Ground, Matunga found it difficult to get going on a dicey wicket where in Sachin Sheth extracted the most out of it troubling the batsman to the core. Wrong Uns were all out for 82 runs in 18.5 overs and the architect in chief was Sachin Sheth returning with excellent bowling figures of 5/10 in 3.5 overs including a maiden. Sachin was spot on with the ball providing timely breakthroughs while Jai Sachdev with 2/13 in 4 overs was the 2nd best of the lot for Total Securities.
Total Securities in reply chased down the score in just 11 overs winning the match by 6 wkts and 9 overs to spare. Skipper Jayesh Thakkar remained unbeaten on 23* while Sachin Sheth for his superb spell of bowling was declared ‘man of the match”
Osian’s Cricket Club after being put to bat first at PJ Hindu Gymkhana posted a massive total of 219 runs for the loss of 5 wkts in 20 overs. The proven opening combination of Vishal Shah (56 off 36 balls) and Kamran Ahmed (34 off 22 balls) for Osians once again did wonders as both the players stitched 79 runs under the first 9 overs to develop the positive momentum. The late blitz down the order by Osian’s middle order bats Nirav Bheda (43 off 17) and Karan Chugh (26* off 13) further proved to be the icing on the cake for Osians CC to cross the 200 run mark.
PJ Hindu Gymkhana in reply were all out for 148 runs in 17.5 overs and for anyone who might have not viewed the scoresheet, this might look an one sided affair with Osians dominating in both the departments. However, there was one player from PJ Hindu Gymkhana in the name of Maulik Merchant who plonked the bowlers with supreme authority despite wickets tumbling from the other end. With most of his mates finding it difficult to cross even 15 runs individually, Maulik went on to score a thrilling 110 off 59 balls laced with 14 fours and 5 sixes with a stunning strike rate of 186.00. Even though his team lost by a big margin, but Maulik’s fearless batting certainly won the heart from both the sides of the teams.
Osian all-rounders Parth Tolia and Vishal Shah were bang on with the ball picking up 3 wkts a piece as Osians Cricket Club registered a big win by 71 runs.
Scorecard Link-
https://www.crichq.com/matches/833261/2nd_innings
MILAN CORPORATE LEAGUE T20-20- PINK BALL 2019-20 : The match between Godrej and Bloombergquint was played at Cross Maidan on 7th March 2020. Bloombergquint won the toss and elected to FIELD first.
Opener Yogesh Satale scored 36 runs off 43 balls, he played the innings very patiently but failed to score big. Middle order batsman and captain Rajib Sengupta also tried to up the ante, he scored 27 runs off 23 balls and took 1 wicket with spell of 4 overs with 1 maiden over. They were bowled out for 139 runs in 18.5 overs. Bloombergquint’s Amar Yadav bowled a charismatic spell of 7 for 33 in 3.5 overs, he decimated the middle and then lower order with his brilliant bowling. Amar Yadav bowled some tentative and luring deliveries to trap the batsmen and also the extra-aggressiveness of the Godrej batsmen added to the cause.
Bloombergquint batting performance was below par, Sanket Patkar and Ajayan KL tried to save the day but failed. Sanket scored 13 off 24 balls and Ajayan scored 21 runs off 35 balls. Rest all the batsmen just got out in single digits. They were bowled out for 96 runs in 17 overs. For GODREJ, off spinner Kishor Bansode picked up 4 wickets for 17 runs in 4 overs. Godrej did not go as per planned in the first 2 overs with stray bowling and extras but with the efforts of the captain in the 3rd over and others, they pretty much restricted them in the 5th over. In this game of low scores, GODREJ’s bowling superiority on the day bagged them the match.
RESULT- GODREJ won the match by 41 runs.
Click here for Godrej VS Bloombergquint Match Full Scorecard ….
THE DREAMZ CORPORATE T20 CRICKET TOURNAMENT 2019-20 : Datamatics VS Edelweiss, the match was played on 14th march 2020 at Sunder C.C, Datamatics won the toss and elected to BAT first.
Datamatics’ openers Yogesh shinde and Malang Aras opened innings brilliantly and they had a opening stand of 71 runs. Yogesh scored a decent 34 runs off 27 balls. Ritesh palav and Manoj Sonawane continued the attack and stayed positive on the front. Ritesh stayed there till the end and scored a brilliant 51 runs off 34 balls and Manoj scored a quick fire 45 off 23 balls, hitting 4 sixes. Rohidas koyande also hammered a quick 15 runs off 5 balls at the end. After 20 overs, they scored 185 runs losing 3 wickets.
Edelweiss got of to a terrible start and the whole innings had only single digit scorers and it was a debacle. The sole batter, Siddharth Karande played a blinder of an innings and had almost pulled it off. He bludgeoned all the bowlers and scored an emphatic 79 runs off 58 balls but he lacked partners at the other end. They scored 148 runs in 20 overs losing 8 wickets. Datamatics bowlers did a splendid job but the pick of the bowlers was right arm medium bowler Amol Jangam, What’s more Amol’s excellent spell included a game changing hat trick in the very 1st over of the game, he ended up with a figure of 5 for 33 in 4 overs.
RESULT- Datamatics won by 37 runs.
MAN OF THE MATCH- Amol Jangam.
