The Vrindavana Preservation Society (VPS) conducted its 2nd annual Cricket Tournament between June 26th and July 18th at the Joy Hanlon field in Quincy, Massachusetts. In the finals, played on Sunday the 18th, the University of Lowell (UML) emerged as the champions of the Tournament by beating Team Baba.

As promised, the Tournament was much bigger and better than that of last year. 12 Teams participated in the Tournament. While most teams were from the Quincy area, some came from Lowell, Worcester and Waltham and even from as far as Connecticut to participate in the event. Spread across 5 weekends this tournament was a roaring success and a ‘fun raiser’ particularly in the South Asian Community.

The Joy Hanlon Field in Quincy is situated in a scenic locale, next to the Fore River. Boats where Yachts grace the waters. Children play and adults relax on the shores of the small beach. While players battled for the coveted championship trophy, their families and friends either cheered them on or explored the surrounding greenery and the beach.

One could not help but notice the meticulous planning and organization that has gone into preparing for this event. Several members of VPS worked in a variety of roles like commentators, umpires and scorers to make this tournament a memorable experience for players and fans. Tournament proceedings always commenced with the players and spectators standing in attention to the national anthems of India, Pakistan and the United States.

The Tournament was played with red, hard tennis balls, specially imported from India. The matches were limited to fifteen overs per side. There were 11 players per team. Each participating team wore its very own custom T-shirts. There was commentary for every game and Hindi music was played during game breaks.

During the lunch breaks, children of VPS families danced to the beats of popular Indian songs. Thanks to the generous contributions of Quincy restaurants India Delight, Punjab Café, Classic India and VPS’s own Sacci Matha’s Kitchen delicious vegetarian food was served for lunch.

The finals set to 16 overs per side, were played between two outstanding teams, Team UML and Team Baba. Both these teams were undefeated in all their previous matches and had displayed outstanding fielding in this match and throughout the tournament.

An excellent bowling spell from UML Skipper Rohit Shinde restricted the talented Team Baba to 72 for 8 in 15 overs. Dhawal was the top scorer with 16. UML started with a six of the second ball by Sonu. However, Sameer, Team Baba’s Captain put the breaks on Team UML (4 for 15). This effort turned futile as UML finally proceeded to win the match with only two balls to spare. This was a fitting finale to the glorious tournament. In the first semifinals, UML packed off the defending champions Lagaan. Sabeeh and Babar of UML first dismissed Lagaan for a modest 53. When Lagaan struck back by taking four early UML wickets, Sabeeh(16) and Viral(15) ensured a 6 wicket UML win in 9 overs.

In the second semifinals, Baba edged out last year’s runners up, the Blue Sox. Aided by Nitin(21) and Premal(22) Baba batting first finished at 88 for 9. Nirav from Blue Sox took 3 wickets. Harsha(22) and Nirav(14) of Blue Sox initially gave the Blue Sox a strong start of 33 for no loss. However Hiren’s excellent bowling ensured the Baba win dismissing Team blue Sox for 69.

While the rain played spoilsport on some days, it did little to dampen the spirit of the players, fans and organizers in the tournament. During the finals weekend, VPS organized a ‘Cricket Carnival’ at the venue. While Team UML played Team Baba on the field, there were games for children, Mehandi and eyebrow shaping for women and numerous activities for spectators of the match. On the last day VPS also organized a special six over Women’s match between VPS A Team and VPS B Team. This game was another thriller and as Team B emerged as a winner beating Team A by one run in the last ball of the match. The VPS Sports committee will add a Women’s Tournament to its summer agenda in the forthcoming years.

The delightful Cricket Tournament finally came to an end on Sunday the 18th of July after Team UML beat Team Baba. No activity brings the South Asian Community together more than this glorious game, which was reserved only for the elite during the days of the Raj. This tournament is a giant step towards promoting Cricket in the United States. Nikhil Wadhwa chairperson of the VPS games committee, Keshav Shukla, President of VPS and ‘tireless’ umpire Chetan Anand deserve special kudos for their Herculean efforts in creating a tournament of this scale. VPS will conduct an even bigger tournament next summer. Please visit www.vps-international.org regularly for updates.

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