*Pathania, Amit steal show; Ravinder wins hearts
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 4: Prominent MLAs from various political parties and well-known journalists of Jammu got together to test their cricketing skills in a friendly match, organized by the Directorate of Youth Services and Sports, under the directions of Minister for IT, TE and Sports, Imran Raza Ansari at GGM Science College Hostel ground, here today.
The match was held under the overall supervision of Sheikh Fayaz Ahmad, Director Sports, who was assisted by Deputy Directors Haji Nisar Ali and Rishi Kumar, who also acted as the Nodal Officer.
The match was won by Media-XI Cricket Club by 9 wickets.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, MLAs-XI scored a modest total of 138 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.
RS Pathania played a brilliant innings of 59 runs off just 35 balls, studded with 11 boundaries and 1 six, while Rajiv Sharma and skipper Usman Abdul Majid contributed 11 and 10 runs to the total respectively.
Pathania, in particular, stole the show and played with fluid grace and utter brilliance to sent the rival bowlers on a leather hunt.
For Media-XI Cricket Club, Mir Imran, Jagdeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, and Rahul Khatri shared 1 wicket each.
In reply, Media-XI led by skipper Mir Imran chased the target in 13.3 overs, losing just 1 wicket in the process, thus winning the match by 9 wickets.
Amit Kumar was the top scorer with quick-fire 53 runs off 26 balls, while Faheem Tak contributed valuable 46 runs off 36 balls. Mir Imran scored 14 runs of 16 balls.
Amit hit 10 fours and a six before he retired hurt. For MLAs-XI, Ajaz Ahmed Mir took the only wicket to fall.
Amit Kumar of Media-XI was declared as the man of the match, RS Pathania was adjudged as the best batsman, Jagdeep as best bowler, while Ravinder Raina won hearts with his acrobatic fielding skills and humorous expert commentary.
RS Pathania and Amit Kumar also won awards for hitting maximum sixes, fours and scoring half-centuries.
MLAs-XI was captained by Usman Abdul Majid, while Media-XI was led by Mir Imran. Jagtar Singh was coach of the MLAs-XI and Mohd Farooq assisted him, while Sachin Singh and Mukesh Sharma were coaches of Media-XI.
Ajay Raina and Dinesh Mahajan were Coordinators of Media-XI team. Shivnandan Singh Mankotia, an official of Youth Services and Sports, coordinated the whole event right from day one and provided all support to both the teams.
Minister for Sports, Molvi Imran Raza Ansari was the chief guest on the occasion, who distributed prizes among the winners and runners-up teams and also felicitated players and officials on the occasion.
Deputy Speaker, Nazir Ahmed Gurezi was the guest of honor, while Zafar Chowdhary was the special guest on the occasion. Gurezi also announced a prize of Rs 10,000 for RS Pathania for his brilliant knock.
The match was officiated by Saleem-ur-Rehman and Sadiq Hussain Malik as umpires and Suresh Singh and Madan Mohan as scorers, while Pankaj Sasan was the match referee.
Anchors Rajesh Dhar and BK Tickoo were the commentators and also conducted the proceedings of the valedictory function.
Speaking on the occasion, Ansari said that such events help people having hectic and busy schedule in public service to enjoy leisure through the medium of sports, adding the events also help in promoting sports and games in the state.
He assured the players that similar matches will be held in the Valley in order to serve a twin purpose of helping the representatives of the people to relieve stress and also work as a cohesive unit for the welfare of the society and the state as well.
The Teams:
MLAs Squad: Usman Majid (C), RS Pathania (VC), Shakti Parihar, Rajiv Sharma, Ravinder Raina, Ishfaq Jabar, Mohd Abass Wani, Altaf Ahmed Wani, Choudhary Mohd Akram, Javed Ahmed Beigh, Ajaz Ahmed Mir, Sat Sharma (Manager cum Player), Mubarak Ahmed Gul, Shah Mohd Tantary and Noor Mohd Sheikh.
Media-XI Squad: Mir Imran (Captain), Faheem Tak, Jagdeep Singh, Yash Khajuria (VC), Vivek Suri, Sunil Bali, Amit Kumar, Pardeep Singh Bali, Ashu Kumar, Rahul Khatri, Amit Sudan, Nitin Kanotra, Ilyas Malik, Sohan Karlopia and Altaf Hussain.
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