Ashok Nagar Friends Hold Gully Cricket League – Season 2
Mangaluru: It’s cricket! Emotions fly high, camaraderie digs deep and the spirit of oneness gets boundless. No wonder this sport is the lifeline of every Indian, as we eat, drink and sleep cricket. However stressed we are, getting involved in a game of cricket whether it’s being played in a stadium, on a small ground in our vicinity, or TV is natural for us.
And it’s no different for friends of Ashoknagar, they have brought a different perspective to this game by unveiling a unique event called ‘Gully Cricket League (GCL), which was par beyond many professionally organised tournaments.
You name it, GCL matched it! Involvement from everyone (XX ward of Ashoknagar), professional teams, individual owners, auctions, super jersey, GCL stadium, pro umpires, neatly marked boundaries, entertaining running commentary, winner trophy probably bigger than IPL trophy, the grand inauguration by the local corporators, a brief visit by local representatives, media, public announcements, refreshments etc etc. all.
The event was organised in a round-robin format with 4 teams, Gully LOTUS, CHAMELEONS, ROYALS & ATTACKERS playing against each other and the team with the most wins playing 2 finals to decide the winners.
While ROYALS & LOTUS teams were consistent with their performances, the other two teams CHAMELEONS & ATTACKERS gave a super hot competition to everyone so that no win was easy. Out of the 14 matches, almost all matches went to the wire giving a thrilling experience to the people who were watching this unique event unfurling in a small corner of Mangalore’s GULLY!
The second edition was won by GULLY ROYALS who beat the GULLY LOTUS in the finals.
Corporator of Ashok Nagar ward Jayalaxmi Shetty along with Entrepreneur Devi Prasad Shetty inaugurated the Gully Cricket Season 2. Corporator Jayalaxmi wished all the players the very best and said to play cricket with sportsman spirit. MLA Vedavyas Kamath also witnessed the Gully Cricket and wished the organizers all the success.
After the final match played between Gully Royals and Gully Lotus, a prize distribution ceremony was held. Entrepreneur Arjun Moras was the Chief guest and Balaraj Kotian of Kalicharan Friends Team Bolur, President of Kalicharan Friends Team Bolur Vijeyendra Salian and Sai Prasad from Ashok Nagar were the guests of honour.
Emcee Wilita Lobo welcomed the guests and the gathering.
Event Results:
Winners – Team Gully Royals
Runner-up – Team Gully Lotus
Best batsman – Prithesh
Best Bowler – Gururaj
Best wicket Keeper – Nithin
Best fielder – Kushal ( young lad 11 yrs)
Best captain – Durga Prasad
Man of the series – Yathin
Suraj and Lokesh Gatti were the umpires of the Gully Match
The organizers, ASHOK NAGAR FRIENDS, would like to thank all the volunteers who stood from the start, be it aligning the pavilion and stadium, allocating responsibilities, drawing out rule books, preparing the scorebook, T-shirt design, team allocation, Chief Guests and Umpire’s hospitality etc.
The event which began as a small local match truly attracted many stalwarts to witness the meticulous approach and the true professionalism put forward by the organisers. As one of the guests and many of the spectators were saying, “looking forward to the NEXT EDITION!”
