Toyota University Cricket Championship

A warm hello to the entire cricket fraternity. By cricket fraternity, I address everyone who follows any form of cricket in any part of the world. Most of our brotherhood keenly follow international games. By international games, I mean we do not differentiate whether the match is being played Australia & England or Zimbabwe & Kenya. An international match is of paramount importance for us and we follow the match till the final ball of the match is bowled. None of the matches slip under our nose.

Our brotherhood has many inner-circles. Members of these inner-circles possess greater knowledge about cricket tournaments all over the world with respect to general members of our fraternity. The members belonging to these inner-circles also follow domestic competition’s being played atleast in their home countries. Thus, they keep abreast with the upcoming names in international cricket and already possess a strong opinion about the rising talent.

Then, there are very closed circles in our brotherhood. The members of these closed circles follow cricket religiously. By following cricket religiously, I mean that they follow any freaking cricket match played at any recognized level. They are well-versed with local tournaments which are neither telecast on national television nor reported in national dailies. If you belong to such a closed circle, my dear friend, you are a cricket extremist.

At this point, some of you would have a smug on your face while others would be shifting in their seats restlessly. Questions of self-doubt would be storming your mind – Do you truly belong to the inner-most, most sacred circle of cricket fraternity? Do not worry, I will ease your pain. Pass a simple test and claim your ticket in the inner most circle.

Toyota University Cricket Championship 2013 came to an end with the Southern Champs – Jain University, Bengaluru coming out winners after beating Northen Stars – Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi in a nail-biting cliffhanger by 2 runs.

If you were aware of this development, then praise the Almighty and you’re welcome to the sacred circle. If not, it is time for us to embrace this tournament like any other in our universe.

UCC is a tournament that has eight teams in the fray. This year they featured Veer Bahadur University, Jaunpur, APS University, Rewa, AMU, Aligarh, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi, the champions Jain University, University of Madras, Chennai, Jiwaji University, Gwalior and Mumbai University from ‘aamchi Mumbai’.

The eight teams were divided in a pool of two consisting of four teams each. After a hard fought round-robin first leg of the tournament, teams from Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Gwalior advanced to the semi-finals. Delhi steam-rolled Gwalior to enter the finals while Bengaluru scrapped past Mumbai to take the final leap towards the championship.

A low scoring final followed where Bengaluru clinched a last ball victory over Mumbai to clinch the title. Jain University found a perfect all-rounder in Shreyas Gopal whose tight spell of 4-0-16-2 and a standalone 83* were the two pillars of their victory.

The sacred text of this epic will be lost in history. I urge you to enlighten yourself with the nitty-gritty details of the tournament and hail the efforts of the lads who will soon shoulder the burden of a billion expectations.