JAMMU: Organised by the Country Cricket Academy in collaboration with J and K State Sports Council, the first State level one-day open 50 over turf cricket tournament for Chief Minister’s Cup shall take place at Gharota, near here from 5th February. This was disclosed by the Organising Secretary , Vivek Sharma in an interaction with media, here on Saturday. He said that all the top teams of the State shall compete for the top honours in this knock-out event. “It will be first of its kind one-day 50 overs aide cricket tournament on standard turf wicket with a prize tag of Rs 1 lakh for the winners and Rs 50,000 for the loser team in the final. The competition will witness a keen contest among teams from the State of J and K and rest of the states as well as also those institutional teams,” informed Vivek.
The event shall be declared open by Minister for Sports, Imran Raza Ansari, who has consented to be the Chief Guest of the opening ceremony. “The event is in the name of Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the reason being he had been an iconic figure of the State and very popular among the youth and always supported that there are no options available to the sportsmen to excel than the hard work,” added Vivek. The competition shall be conducted at Village Gharota where a complete sports venue has been developed by Country Sports Academy dedicated to number of sports besides the most popular game of cricket. “The competition aims at standard cricket conditions that include proper sized oval, natural grass turfs, pollution free environment and boarding and lodging for the sports learners. The conditions are at par with the national level cricket venues where 1st class cricket is played. Many State level players, members of JKCA as well BCCI nominees have expressed satisfaction about the cricket venue of CCA at Village Gharota Jammu,” said Vikrant Sharma of Country Cricket Academy.