In India, the game of cricket with die-hard cricketers, wears a different face every time. Sometime it’s in form of the likes of Tendulkar and Dhoni grabbing the ICC World Cup, sometimes in form of grooving bodies of attractive cheer leaders at the IPL and sometimes it is the little known confines of our small villages, but every time its amid all hue and cry from everyone who understands the game or who doesn’t.
A group of likeminded souls of the Youngs Club Ratnari, in Ratnari, a small village in Shimla district saw a dream of capitalizing on this cricket frenzy by conducting a cricket tournament for the local talents last year, and today, one year down the line, that idea dubbed the RPL – Ratnari Premier League, stands strong as the biggest cricket league in the district, with its second anniversary tournament underway.
The RPL 2 (April 5 – April 19) being organized by Youngs Club Ratnari at their home ground – Green Park Stadium, Sona Batola, has 60 odd teams participating (despite Rs 2200 team entry) for one goal – Rs 66,000 prize money and a trophy. The motive for all the teams assembled from all parts of the district may be, yes to be the top team in the district, but for the organizers and for the cricketers participating, its more than just that. For them it’s about exposing talents that haven’t been beyond the bounds of the village, and that haven’t known anything but cricket.
The Green Park Stadium may not have the best of facility; the ball used may not be a kookaburra ball (but one made of tattered fabric and lots of nylon thread), the safety equipment for players maybe close to nothing, but the passion and fervor for the game, and team spirit, is something that you need to see to understand.
The RPL giveaway is
