The city of Chennai has always welcomed the sport of cricket with open arms, and has played the perfect host to several national and international tournaments. Come September, Chennai will witness another cricket tournament, but one with a difference - the Street Child Cricket World Cup 2023.
Organised by Street Child United in partnership with Shree Dayaa Foundation, the tournament will take place at Amir Mahal, the official residence of the Nawab of Arcot from September 20 to 30.
This is the second edition of the Street Child Cricket World Cup, and the tournament is envisioned as a platform for street children to not just showcase their sporting talent, but to also advocate for their rights. While lots of cricketing action is in store through the T20-style tournament, the World Cup will see art workshops as well as other child-friendly sessions in which 168 street children from 15 countries will participate.
“A tournament like this gives street children across the world an opportunity to represent their country, showcase their talents, and engage in discussions to learn about the concerns they all face. Protection is usually the first demand that these children have, followed by access to necessities including identity documents,” said Paul Sunder Singh, director, Karunalaya, a Chennai-based NGO working with street children. Four children from Karunalaya were a part of Team India South which won the inaugural Street Child Cricket World Cup, hosted at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2019.
National mixed teams of boys and girls will represent their countries for the cricket tournament and this includes teams from Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, England, Hungary, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe. Seven Indian teams representing different organisations from across the country will also participate.
John Wroe, co-founder and CEO of Street Child United said that they were happy to partner with Latha Rajinikanth’s Shree Dayaa Foundation for the event, and are also working with the support of Nawabzada Mohammed Asif, Dewan to the Prince of Arcot, Oliver Ballhatchet MBE, British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, and the NGO Save The Children-India which will be facilitating their advocacy work.
