Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, July 21: In a major initiative to promote grassroots cricket across Jammu and Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) inaugurated Inter-School Under-14 Boys Cricket Tournament at Heritage School, here today. The colourful and well-attended ceremony was graced by Mithun Manhas, Member Cricket Operations and Development, JKCA, as the chief guest. He was accompanied by Vidhya Bhaskar (Member CAC), Meenu Slathia (Coordinator & Member CAC), Sandeep Singh (Sunny) (Coordinator), and Ankita Jalla, Chairperson of the Senior Women’s Selection Committee.
Mithun Manhas emphasized the importance of identifying and nurturing young talent early. He stated, “Catch them young and coach them is the mantra JKCA follows to develop future stars. We are committed to promoting cricket at all levels and will soon organize similar tournaments for girls.” The tournament is being held simultaneously in Jammu and Srinagar to ensure participation from all corners of the Union Territory.
In Jammu, three exciting matches were played at different venues. In the first match, JKCA Tigers defeated KC International School by 9 wickets. KC International was bowled out for a paltry 31 runs, with Mehran and Bilal taking three wickets each. JKCA Tigers chased the target losing only one wicket, and Mehran was adjudged Player of the Match.
In the second match, Heritage School outplayed JP World School by 4 wickets. JP World scored 121 runs, but Heritage successfully chased the target, led by a fine performance from Saksh Gupta, who was declared Player of the Match. In the third match, Jodhamal School registered a big win over DPS Jammu. Jodhamal scored 159 runs and bowled out DPS for just 75. Arit Rai, for his all-round show, was named Player of the Match.
At Srinagar, the tournament was inaugurated at Doon School by JKCA Tournament Coordinator Abdul Qayoom Bagow, who encouraged participants to play with passion and sportsmanship.
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