Saath7: One of its kind 7-a-side cricketing extravaganza launched in Jaipur

The evolution of Cricket as a sport has been stark over the years. From the era of the all-whites to T20 now, the sport has grown by leaps and bounds over time and it's only natural that the impatient and ever-so-diverse following of the game brought about some more innovations to the game.

In a plea to come up with something new and more interesting thus, Wonder Cement Ltd today launched the first edition of #Saath7 The Cricket Mahotsav in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The tournament that will attract the participation of 39,840 cricket enthusiasts from over 249 tehsils across the state and is pegged to be a large sports based citizen engagement initiative.

Deemed to be a seven-over an inning, seven players per team affair, the tournament will cover every zone, district, tehsil and village of Rajasthan. With an aim to engage the last mile cricket lover, the tournament will also look at identifying cricketing talent from within the state. The winners & runners up of the tournament will be awarded prize money of INR 3,50,000/- and INR 1,40,000/- respectively. The total prize money for winners in the inaugural edition of this tournament is to the tune of Rs.30Lacs.

It will commence from 19th December 2015 and will run for four weeks with matches being played on weekends. There will be a total of 3984 teams battling for the coveted title. The event will also encourage participation from women, by awarding seven runs to a team if a girl is a part of the playing seven. After 15 hit-out matches between the 16 shortlisted teams, one winning team will emerge as the Team of the Tehsil. Tehsil Teams converge at District Headquarters and face each other to shortlist the District Team. 33 District Teams converge at 6 Zones around Rajasthan to identify 6 Zonal Teams. 6 Zonal Teams meet at Udaipur on the 10th of January 2016 for the Playoffs.

The inauguration was graced by former India captain Kapil Dev and top members of the Wonder Cement management. The legend, who hails from nearby Haryana encouraged kids to come forward and participate.

"There're a lot of games being played in India but cricket is most popular; credit goes to BCCI," Kapil Dev #Saath7 pic.twitter.com/7m5oaOlHsa

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) November 3, 2015

For the uninitiated, there isn't any need of any technical expertise to take part in this extravaganza. Any resident of Rajasthan can be a part of this tournament by registering his / her team by visiting Wonder Cement’s selective authorised dealers across the state. Anyone over the age of 15 is permitted to play in the tournament. Registrations are free of cost. Sounds nonchalant, right?

Come over Rajasthan, celebrate the spirit of cricket Saath7!