MUMBAI, 17th June 2019: The cricketing world is all set to witness a revolution in popular cricket, the first of its kind league with the idea of taking cricket from the streets to the stadium and a platform for upcoming players. The Indian Tennis Cricket League will showcase eight teams battle it out for the first time to be crowned Champions of the inaugural league. Stalwarts of the game have already been signed by the league and more than 30 iconic players will go under the hammer to represent individual teams.
“Indian Tennis Cricket League looks to popularize the game of cricket in mainstream media that is played in the most loved form, with a ‘tennis ball’ and ‘on the streets’. We are hopeful that this league will be accepted and appreciated by the Indian audience,” said, Mr. Deepak Chauhan, Director Street sports India and Sports 360 degree LLP.
Speaking on the realization of the league and the possible teams, Mr. D.B. Chand, owner Sports 360 Degrees LLP said, “The concept of cricket with tennis ball has been prevalent in India for a long time. We realized the potential and decided to take it to the stadiums giving it the recognition it deserves. We have been welcomed and received encouragement from the fraternity. There has been continuous interest from cricket enthusiasts to be a fundamental part of this league awaiting the tender to bid for the 8 teams.”
More than 8000 players have registered themselves for trials. A total of 128 players would be shortlisted for the 8 team’s bidders to recruit their squad through an auction to strategize and create their best side, consisting of 16 players in each squad. The league will be played in a way that each innings will respectively be 10 overs, more popularly known as the T10 format which promises explosion and fireworks on each ball.
“Cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Gujarat have so much untapped potential and it is our belief that a game such as cricket should be most inclusive. You never know the kind of player that is being missed out on due to lack of opportunities,” said, Mr. Vishnu Adhikari, Director Sports 360 Degree LLP.
Three categories of players will be seen in the league with the iconic players at the helm, the seasoned professionals and special interest will be given to players rising up the ranks in domestic cricket. Some of the names already associated with the league are Krishna Satpute, Omkar Desai, Sumeet Dekhale and Ajaz Qureshi.
Mr. Santosh Nanekar, spoke on the occasion, “We have conducted trials in various cities where tennis cricket is prevalent and to our surprise the talent that we found is commendable. To think of tennis cricket as a small entity would not be correct, we aspire to make this bigger and better with every successful year.”
With the vision of taking the game of cricket from the streets to the stadium, Sports 360 Degree LLP in association with Star Connect Entertainment has made the possibility of this league a reality. The Indian Tennis Cricket League will be played at the D.Y Patil from the 19th October to 26th October 2019.
