Glory for amateur YMCC cricketers in street league

Mentored by former Australian pace bowler Brett Lee, Young Mumbai Central Cricket (YMCC) emerged champions of the inaugural Muthoot Blue League of Dreams.

The YMCC team, which comprised of players who had given up on their cricket ambitions to settle in their respective jobs, faced many hardships to enter the tournament, but finally got their due in the end.

The registrations for the event began across India on April 12. The League fullfilled the extraordinary dreams of the ordinary people on the street, who have massive challenges in life, but are driven by their passion for cricket. With registrations closing on April 28, the voting process commenced on April 29 till May 4.

The four shortlisted teams, Delhi Cricket Council, Spartanz, YMCC, Ukkadgaon CC from Delhi NCR, Kottayam, Mumbai and Parbhani respectively battled it out at the Air India sports club, Kalina stadium for two days.

An initiative by Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), it saw over 1,200 registrations coming in from across the nation. The final shortlisted four teams played with celebrated sports stars like Zaheer Khan for Spartanz, Lee with YMCC, Herschelle Gibbs with Delhi Cricket Council and Jonty Rhodes with Ukkadgaon CC.

The two-day tournament saw eight match sets in total, with the celebrity cricketers encouraging their teams throughout. The YMCC team ,led by best batsman of the tournament Manish Koli, received over 65,000 votes and were playing along with Lee.

“We feel over the top of the world for not only having won the tournament, but having this spectacular chance to play with such big names in the cricket fraternity. It was a ‘dream come true’ opportunity for us and we are thankful to the Muthoot Pappachan Group for providing us with a platform like this. We hope to keep pursuing our passion for the game and reach bigger heights, Koli said on behalf of his team.

“We all have played ‘backyard cricket’ at some point with visions of making it big one day. So it is great to see these kids finally getting that one opportunity to fulfil those dreams.  It’s a wonderful initiative and it’s great for us as past cricketers to come and play with the people who have a vision and aim to one day play for their country. Its exciting and lot of fun,” Lee said.

On the occasion, Zaheer Khan said, “India is a passionate country when it comes to cricket. The street is where the real connection with the game begins and we all at some point have played on the streets. I have grown up playing gully cricket myself and got nostalgic about my earlier days. It’s a different experience, innovative initiative by Muthoot Pappachan Group and I am happy to be part of this league. It’s wonderful interacting with the real fans of the game.”