Chhattisgarh gets chance to host Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League

By Nitesh Chhabra

Raipur. Chhattisgarh Cricket Association recently, has announced the organization of Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League (CCPL) in the month of June. It was also informed that the green signal for this league has been received from BCCI and it will be organized under the guidance of BCCI. This announcement has created a wave of joy among the young cricket players of Chhattisgarh. In fact, the young cricketers of the state do not get many opportunities to showcase their talent. Cricketers who dream of IPL and the blue jersey of the Indian team in the future will get an opportunity to take a big step forward in making their dreams come true through this tournament.
Even in September 2023, Chhattisgarh Cricket Association had called a press conference, in which information was given regarding the organization of Chhattisgarh Invitation Tournament in October 2023. At the same time, I had asked whether this tournament would become the basis of Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League in the future, then he had replied that “Absolutely, we are trying to increase the pool of our players in competitive cricket in our state, so that “Going forward, we see many players ready for the Premier League. After this, we will be able to organize the league in the state of Chhattisgarh.”
Now this event is starting to take off. For some time now, top officials and administrative officers of Chhattisgarh Cricket Association have been seen in action mode. In October 2023, the association organized invitational tournaments for men and women, then BCCI organized the final stage matches and final of the national women’s tournament. Apart from this, along with the matches of different trophies of the board, four matches of Ranji Trophy have also been organized in the stadium of Raipur in this season. Apart from this, the association has also provided good facilities to the players in various categories of board matches and various categories of state association tournaments, such as practice, good hotels to stay during the tour and proper transport to go from one place to another. Convenience is the main one. The purpose of these facilities was very clear that the main focus of the players should be on improving their game and performing well. The Cricket Association has done this work very well.

If we talk about this league, initially the information has come out that only players from Chhattisgarh will be participants in this tournament. This is a very good decision. These players will be kept in four categories. There will be icon players in A category. Ranji players will be given a chance in B category, Under 19 players in C category and players playing at district level in D category. There will be a total of 6 teams in the tournament and each team can have 16 to 20 players. If seen this way, 100 to 120 players will get a chance in this league. This tournament will be broadcast live on TV as well as on internet media. The names of the team will be announced soon. After that, in the process of forming the team, players will be purchased through auction, which will prove to be a big milestone and interesting step in the history of Chhattisgarh. For the conduct of this tournament, the state association has also constituted a separate Governing Council, whose president is Pramod Shankar Sharma.Talking about the star players of the state, current captain Amandeep Khare has represented the Indian team in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Ajay Mandal and Shashank Singh have represented different franchises in IPL. Ashish Chauhan has performed well in bowling and Shashank Chandrakar in batting against Mumbai. Obviously these players will get the highest bid. It will also be interesting to see how much stake is placed on the budding players. It is not that players have not got opportunities before, but this will be the first time that the youth will get such a big platform. There will be 50000 spectators in the stadium. The entire India along with the people of Chhattisgarh will be watching it through TV and internet media. Top officials of the state and BCCI will be in the field and various IPL franchises will also be keeping an eye on this tournament. This will be the time to do something. Most of the cricketers’ family, friends and fans will see them playing on TV for the first time.

One thing is clear from these efforts of the Sangh that the future of cricket in Chhattisgarh is very bright. There is no dearth of talented cricketers in Chhattisgarh. There is a need to hone them. In the Ranji match played in Raipur last month, Chhattisgarh had given a tough fight to Mumbai and by a margin of just two runs, Chhattisgarh was deprived of victory on the basis of first innings. Amandeep Khare had scored an excellent 143 runs in the first innings of Chhattisgarh, while Ashish Chauhan and Ajay Mandal bowled brilliantly. Overall, Chhattisgarh Cricket Association has taken this very good step.