At 3.30 p.m. at Rambagh Polo Ground in Jaipur on Saturday, team KCR Hyderabad would take on 61st Cavalry for a chance to have a shot at the coveted Rajasthan Polo Club Cup. Yes, you read it right, the team’s name is KCR Hyderabad.
“Our team was earlier known as Hyderabad Chougan Club. Last summer, we thought we should pay tribute to the man who is doing so much for the poor as well as the minorities. So, this season, we have taken the field as KCR Hyderabad to honour Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao,” says Shamsheer Ali, a (6) handicap player. Team KCR Hyderabad has in its ranks Basheer Ali, Hamza Ali, Allan Michael and Major Aman Singh.
On its way to the semi-final, KCR Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Polo team by 10 to 6.5 goals where Basheer Ali scored a double hat-trick.
In the next outing, they defeated Sahara Warriors 6-5 setting the stage for a semi-final clash.
The changeover of team KCR Hyderabad is complete with the polo players taking the field in lavender pink Ts as against the earlier black of the Hyderabad team. Pink is the colour that has become part of the identity of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Chief Minister.
The Hyderabad Chougan Club has been a familiar name in the polo circuit with some of the top players of the country playing for it. “There is a lot of goodwill for KCR whom we see as a model Chief Minister. This administration doesn’t have a bias, so we thought of the name change. There is nothing political about it,” says Mr. Ali.
The RPC tournament is seen like a warm-up for the big polo season that travels through the country with venues in Rajasthan, Delhi, Bengaluru, Bombay with Hyderabad hosting the last of the matches in April.
