PATNA: Thanks to the four-day-long Sister Jayshree Memorial Inter-District Women’s Cricket Tournament, played here on Notre Dame Academy (NDA) campus from Thursday, Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has found a bunch of talent which will help it revive women’s cricket in the state.
After the tournament concluded here on Sunday, BCA office-bearers announced that they would select a team of 40 women cricketers and train them in a bid to win coveted BCCI tournaments.
In the final match on Sunday, Muzaffarpur trounced Bhagalpur to lift the Sister Jayshree Memorial Trophy. The trophy was presented to Muzaffarpur captain Tanuja Kiran jointly by BCA convener Abdul Bari Siddiqui and ADG (BMP) A C Verma, who were the chief guests.
The tournament, organized for the first time in Bihar, indicates the revival of Bihar’s women’s cricket. It will work as a stimulus for women players to work hard,” said Siddiqui, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly.
“It is very heartening that along with boys, girls are also displaying cricketing prowess. There is no dearth of talent. We just need to tap it,” Siddiqui added.
In the final, Muzaffarpur won the toss and elected to bat. Its players scored a breezy 144 runs in just 20 overs for the loss of seven wickets. In response, Bhagalpur made a good start, but its players could not match the guile of Muzaffarpur bowlers. They could manage to score only 127 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs, making Muzaffarpur victorious by 17 runs.
Muzaffarpur skipper Tanuja Kiran expressed her joy over the victory, while Bhagalpur team’s captain Sana Saif Ali said: “I am looking forward to playing in forthcoming matches with more practice.”
The player of the tournament award was given to Sanjana Roy of Muzaffarpur team, while the best batswoman award went to Purnima Verma of Bhagalpur. Best fielder award was given to Anu Priya of Patna and the best bowler award went to Tejeshwita of Bhagalpur team.
“We have started preparations for various tournaments in the coming months. After the training of 40 selected players, we will select 25 players,” said senior BCA member Ram Kumar.
The tournament generated much interest among NDA students. A class VII student, Soumya Jha, told TOI: “It was very exciting to watch women’s cricket. Along with my friends, I watched all the four matches.” Sanchi Shroff and Ritika Labh, both class IX students, echoed Soumya: “We will like to watch more such matches whenever we find an occasion.”