Mumbai : Coca-Cola India, the country’s leading beverage company, reiterated their commitment towards promoting grassroots cricket, while unveiling the highlights of the 3rd season of the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup Under-16 Cricket Tournament, the country’s largest Inter-School Cricket Championship, in partnership with Procam International. This school cricket tournament will be played in 70 districts in 10 states, under the aegis of the respective State Cricket Associations.

The 3rd season was announced by Debabrata Mukherjee, Vice President – Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, alongwith Vivek B Singh, Jt. Managing Director, Procam International, Saba Karim,Chief Mentor & Former International Cricketer, Prof. Ratnakar Shetty and other officials and dignitaries associated with this unique project.

The occasion was alsoused to introduce to the media the three Coca-Cola Cricket Stars – Shivam Chauhan (Delhi), Vikas Dixit (Delhi) and Pranjul Puri(Indore), the most talented of the players from the second season, who spent a fruitful four weeks training under former Somerset cricketer Thomas ‘Tom’ Webley at the famous Merchant Taylors’ School in Northwood, Hertfordshire.

This trip to UK was the first step in the mentoring and development of the three players as part of the commitment on behalf of Coca-Cola India and Procam International.

Charting the course for a bright cricketing future:The three Coca-Cola Cricket Stars have been signed up by Procam International,who will strive to make available to them the best facilities possible, to help them further their cricket careers.

A fund has been kept for these boys which will cover all their expenses arising from purchase of kitting and equipment, besides traveling abroad for training. Procam International will nurture these boys both on and off the field, hence enabling them to make the best use of their talent and opportunities and succeed in the sport of cricket.

The three players were in the UK from June 9 to July 5,2013, training and playing matches almost every alternate day.

Launching the 3nd season of the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup, Mr. Debabrata Mukherjee, Vice President –Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said “It gives me great pleasure to kick start a brand new season of the Coca-Cola U16 Cricket Cup. Sports are an integral part of our lives – an Active Healthy Living is important fora balanced lifestyle and we have always worked at supporting the same amongst the youth. This tournament is our endeavor on the same path. I sincerely hope this would give our young and aspiring players the confidence and boost to pursue their dreams in the sport. We look forward to an exciting season, with some amazing talents. All the best to everyone!”

The Coca-Cola Cricket Cup is an Inter-school grass root level cricket initiative to discover budding cricketing talent in the country. The program is open to all young cricketers in the age group of12-16 years. The tournament will be played across 10 states in over 70districts involving more than 12,500 young players from more than 850 schools.

 Winners of the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup will be awarded a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh, while the runners-up would get Rs. 70,000/-.24 talented players selected from the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup – Inter-State Challenge will get a chance to attend a week long ‘Coaching Clinic’ under the guidance of Cricket India Academy. Post the week long coaching, the final Coca-Cola India team will be selected and given an opportunity to prove their mettle by participating in a competitive tournament against an invited International U-16 team from other cricket playing nations

Mr. Vivek. B. Singh, Jt. MD, Procam International, said “We are delighted to continue to have Coca-Cola India as our partners for the 3rd season of the Coca-Cola CricketCup. Coca-Cola’s support for sporting events is well documented and this partnership has enabled us to encourage young cricketing talent in the country. It has served as an ideal platform to promote grassroots cricket, identify promising talent and groom the country’s next generation of International cricketers. With India’s vast population and geographical spread, it is not easy for talented players to find the right platform and emerge into the spotlight. The Coca-cola Cricket Cup aspires to be that platform for every deserving cricketer so that great talent never goes unrecognized”.

Speaking about the initiative, Mr. SabaKarim, former Test cricketer and Chief Mentor of the initiative, said,“At the end of the 9-month program, three best players –‘the Coca-Cola Cricket Stars’ will be groomed for a period of 3 years enabling them to realize their dream of donning International colors. Depending on their core strength, they will also get an opportunity to further hone their skills by attending training camps under the guidance of prominent ex-cricketers. The elaborate structure of the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup will ensure that players play some tough cricket and prepare themselves to face bigger challenges.”

The winning schools at each stage of the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup stand to win significant prize money. The total purse for this tournament amounts to INR 10 lakh, besides awards and gifts as gratification. While all the teams reaching the pre-quarter-finals stage of the Intra-State championship will be presented with T-shirts and caps, the members of the teams that make the semi-finals will be presented with cricket kitbags.There will also be man of the match awards for each match from the pre-quarter-final stage onwards.

Source : Lokesh Shastri