The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Now, it is ‘T10 Gully Cricket’

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Now, it is ‘T10 Gully Cricket’

NEW DELHI: Riding on the popularity of the shortest form of cricket, a new concept, called ‘T10 Gully Cricket’, will be introduced early next year with rising star Ishant Sharma as its brand ambassador and former India coach Lalchand Rajput as the Tournament Director.

The tournament, aimed at attracting those in the 15 to 24 age group, will not feature first-class cricketers. Eight teams from Nashik, Pune, Surat, Thane, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Kanpur and Jalandhar will compete for the winners’ prize money of Rs. 10 lakh. The total prize money will be Rs. 25 lakh.

The organisers, Reasonable Communications Private Limited, insisted they did not require the approval of the Board of Control for Cricket in India at this stage.

“Unauthorised”

But a top BCCI official made it clear that the tournament was “unauthorised” and any one — player or official — wanting to associate with the said project could do so only after obtaining clearance from the Board.

According to Rajput, it was “like a selection trial for Twenty20. If we can spot even two or three good cricketers, it would be great.”

Ishant, who, at some stage, would need the Board’s permission to support this tournament, said, “I loved playing gully cricket. Everybody starts with it. This is the format that takes everyone forward.”

New concepts

The T10 concept will have some new concepts, like bat-out where six batsmen from each team will face six different bowlers and scoring would only be through a six.

A ‘Max Zone’ will be identified and if a batsman hits a ball through that area, the runs he scores will be doubled. Every reverse sweep shot that goes for a six will fetch the batsman ten runs. The inaugural match is slated for January 16, 2009 with ‘live’ coverage by DD Sports. — Special Correspondent

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