Saturday saw officers who share the corridors of power sweat it out in a cricket match on the Marina.
It was a showdown between the officers of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. In the end, the former reigned supreme over the latter.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami not only inaugurated the match, but also tried his hand at batting, hitting a few shots off balls bowled by Minister D. Jayakumar and Director General of Police J.K. Tripathy.
Winning the toss, the IPS team, led by Additional Director General of Police Sunil Kumar, chose to bowl first. The IAS officers, led by Additional Chief Secretary Md. Nasimuddin, scored 164 in 22 overs. Nagercoil Sub Collector Pavan Kumar was the top-scorer with 52 runs, while Tiruppur Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan scored 35.
Faced with a daunting target, the IPS officers managed to score only 102 runs before being bowled out. NIB-CID SP Kalaiselvan scored 28 runs, while Cyber Crime Wing SP G. Shasank Sai hit a well-made 26. Ramanathapuram SP Varun scored 12 runs, while the others got out in single digits.
Dheeraj Kumar, principal secretary, Youth Welfare and Sports Development, told The Hindu , “For the first time, we are organising games like cricket, football and badminton for officers of All India Services and Central Services in Tamil Nadu during weekends. Today, the first cricket match was held. Other matches will be played in the coming weeks. Women officers will play badminton matches.”
“The officers are burdened with routine work. To beat stress, they should show some interest and get involved in sporting activities,” said the CM, clad in cricket uniform, during the inauguration of the event.
Officers of the Indian Forest Service, the Indian Revenue Service, Railways and Customs will be playing league matches on Sunday.
