OPENING CEREMONY OF THE INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE ABUJA
The opening ceremony of the Indian Cricket league Abuja, (ICL) took place on the 18th of May 2019 at the Abuja Central Park, Wuse, Abuja.
The idead behind the opening ceremony was to let everyone in on the whole essence of the ICL and what it stands for in regards to Cricket in Abuja. The ceremony began with the welcome address by the President of the ICL Board Mr. Saad Siddiqui,
Mr Saad Siddiqui welcomed all the guest and participants and thanked them for attending. He also spoke briefly on the;
- Purpose of ICL
- Introduction of the Members of the Board and Committees
- The 4 clubs registered under the ICL
- The Auction and bidding process for players
- Rules and regulations of the ICL
- Grassroots development in collaboration with the Nigeria Cricket Federation
The President of the ICL board also used the opportunity to unveil the team logos, and present the captains of the 4 clubs to the guest and finally, all the sponsors for the League.
Representing the President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Mr. Emeka Igwilo, the General Manager conveyed the good wishes of the President to the ICL board while thanking them for this initiative most especially in the proposed partnership in grassroots development. The General Manager promised that the Federation will always make available the right structure and platform for genuine developers of the game to thrive and provide the support in areas where necessary.
The 4 clubs registered for the Maiden edition are;
- Abuja Avengers
- Abuja Badshah
- Abuja Titans
- Abuja Warriors
SPONSORS FOR THE INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE ARE
- Dr Hassan Hospital
- Cilantro Restaurants
- Central Park
- Zime Life
- Olam Farm
- Live Sustainable
SPECIAL GUEST AT THE EVENTS INCLUDE;
- d Tejeshwar ( Second Secretary, Political and Information Indian High Commission)
- Mr Emeka Igwilo, General Manager, Nigeria cricket Federation
- Dare Aimola, Board Member, Nigeria Cricket Federation
The final event for the evening was the official kickoff of the Indian Cricket League with the representative of the Indian high commission bowling the ball to the General Manager of the Nigeria Cricket Federation.
The basic purpose of the Indian Cricket League is to create a standard league for the cricket family in Abuja by raising the standards and increasing the stakes.
The league was inspired by the success of the Nigeria U-19 Team that qualified for the world cup earlier this year in Namibia.
The Indian Cricket League board have had successful discussions with the NCF in areas of sponsoring grassroots development of Cricket in Abuja.
An auction process was introduced that enable the clubs to bid for players for a certain amount from the pool of players in Abuja
The rules and playing condition is conformed to the International Cricket Council 2017 code which is the latest.
Other exciting additions are the “super sixes” Hit a certain target on the pitch with the ball while bating gives you a chance to win N5,000….Any spectator that takes a catch outside the boundary gets N5,000… And lots more.
INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE MATCH REPORT (19TH MAY 2019)
GAME 1: Abuja Avengers vs Abuja Titans
After heavy downpour and play delayed for 1 hour, the match began at exactly 10am.
Avengers won the toss and elected to field first sending in Abuja Titans to bat.
Abuja Titans struggled to coin a decent partnership as wickets continue to fall from one end leaving a bizarre total of 22 runs for the loss 2 wickets in 5 overs. Slowly and steadily the middle other fought back but again the bowling from Avengers eventually restricted the Titans to 112 runs all out in 19.2 overs.
Hashim Muhammed was the star performer with the bat for Titans with 52 runs off 57 balls.
Saad Butt stole the show for the Avengers with a statistics of 5 wickets for 23 runs in 4 overs, with a hat-trick wicket in the 3rd over.
In the second innings, the Avengers played a well-structured innings with the opening pair producing an 8 overs partnership. Regi George led from the front with 42 runs not out in 20 overs strongly supported by by Saad Butt with 33 runs off 21 balls.
Saad Butt was named Man of the match.
Result: Abuja Avengers won by 9 wickets
GAME 2: Abuja Warriors vs Abuja Badshah
Abuja Warriors won the toss and elected to field first putting the Badshah to bat. Abuja Badshah started brightly but could not find the right partnership in their innings.
Askala and Joel Kelechi scored a priceless 36 runs in the last 6 overs get their team over the line to record a meager score of 101 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs.
Askala was top scorer with 26 runs off 27 balls and supported by Captain Abinarv Sharma with 17 runs off 27 balls.
In the second innings, Joseph Eshua of the Warriors scored very quickly to race to 33 runs off 27 balls leaving the score at 42 runs in 7 overs. The Badshah fought back to take 5 quick wickets and turned the game around to give the Badshah a life line.
A game definitely enjoyed by the neutrals but tensed enough to keep every spectator on the edge of their seats as the match tickled away to a very nervy ending.
However, it was Onwundiwe Okechukwu that produced a man of the match performance with 4 late wickets to restrict the Warriors to a disappointing score of 93 runs all out in 19.3 overs
Result: Abuja Badshah won the match by 8 runs.