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Politics in Cricket...
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TROPHY
FACTOR
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw with
delegates at the awards function. Also seen are
Rajeev Shukla and Vikram Kaul |
MAKING A
MARK
Journalist Mark Tully makes an appearance at the
event. Alongside is Patel |
IN THE
HUDDLE
Former India spinner Dilip Doshi at the dinner
for the teams |
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Later in the evening, in honour of the Indian parliamentarians team, a dinner function was organised by the various bodies. On 9 September, Indian parliamentarians led by Chetan Chauhan had a cricket match against the Commonwealth Secretariat XI led by Winston Cox, deputy secretary general, which the Indian Parliamentarian team won.
The Indian team scored 173/5, with contributions from each member of the team and the Commonwealth Secretariat XI were bowled out for 131, with Peter Walker of Commonwealth scoring 54. Walker was stumped by Dushyant Singh and bowled by Afzal Ansari. Among the Indian bowlers, Afzal Ansari and Sarbananda Sonowal took two wickets each.
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The Indian side had Chetan Chauhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Kapil
Sibal, Praful Patel, Dushyant Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu |
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In their third match against the Indian high commissioner’s side led by Kuldeep Bhardwaj, the Indian side again landed on the losing side. The Indian team scored 173/5, which was easily overtaken by the high commissioner’s side with eights wickets to spare.
“We had a superb experience and a great time in the field. The matches were played in a spirited way, with both sides putting in their best efforts. At the same time, we had a chance to interact with the elected representatives,” said Sachin Pilot.
“But this is not the end,” says Kaul, “the British team has accepted our invitation, and they are likely to return to India by February or March.”
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Through these cricket matches, the Indian parliamentarians got a chance to interact formally with their counterparts; there was an exchange of thoughts, ideas and experience. They also interacted with the locals, influential people in governance and industry, which was a great experience for them. They also interacted with the Indian community. And one could see that in spite of their differences on the political field they all came together on the cricketing field to play for their country with plenty of bonhomie.
The tour was assisted and facilitated by the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust, under the aegis of the Indo-British Parliamentarians Forum. The Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust organises various international and national sports events in the country. It works towards various aspects like empowerment of youth through sports, conducts sporting events in India as well as outside the country. The events are held at the international level for better understanding among the youth. It also conducts programmes to promote global peace and harmony.
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The 143 runs scored by the Indians was easily overhauled by the British parliamentarians with 5 overs and 5 wickets to spare |
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The various projects organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust have been the MRF World Series in 1989 (involving six nations—Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, India, South Africa). The one-day internationals against South Africa in 1993 were hosted for the first time immediately after the apartheid policy was abolished in South Africa; the under-19 Commonwealth Cricket Championship, the Under-16 Commonwealth cricket series and so on.
The trust has also staged various charity matches, one being the cricket match between the foreign artists of ‘Lagaan’, a Bollywood movie, which was selected for the Oscars. Its various national projects have been the All India Indian Airlines Cup Cricket Tournament,
Modi-Continental Jawaharlal Nehru Challenge Cup, National Wrestling Competition, Annual Parliamentarian Cricket Match, Parliamentarian Team Cricket Match against the UP Chief Minister’s XI.
Lately, the trust had organised the six-nation Indira Gandhi Hockey Championship in India in March 2005. This event was planned in collaboration with Indian Hockey Federation and the championship was accredited to the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH). Besides these, the Jawaharlal Nehru Trust also organises sports events for disabled people.
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October 2005
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