cheers

Twenty 20 cricket tournament…Organized by Bhutan Cricket Council Board

Six cricket club teams participated in the first ever twenty 20 cricket tournament organized by BCCB. The tournament started on 13th of January and concluded on 28th of January 2007. To encourage more teams to participate, the tournament was held during week ends. The teams were divided into two groups and played in league cum Knock out format. In the preliminary rounds the three teams from each group faced each other with two top teams from each group earning berth in the Semi-finals in the next round. The Six teams who participated in the tournaments are Druk 11, Friends United club, Youth 11, Kanglung Hi-fliers, Drupchu 11 and Bhutan Telecom Ltd. Group A:- Drupchu 11, Youth 11, Kanglung Hi-Fliers. Group B: - Druk 11, Friends United Club, Bhutan Telecom Ltd.

Kanglung Hi-fliers and Druk 11 qualified for semi-final from group A and Bhutan Telecom ltd. and Friends united qualified from group B. The winner of group A – Kanglung Hi-Fliers played against runners up of group B – Friends United club. Likewise winner from group B -Bhutan Telecom clashed with runners up from group a – Druk 11.

The game of cricket is still in its infancy in Bhutan but has improved a lot in terms of teams’ participation and quality of the players in its short existence. The cricket is played by players from all walks of life. Some are business men while others are civil employee; some are corporate employees while others are students; some old and some young. The cricket in Bhutan is slowly but steadily gaining momentum as it is evident from non-Bhutanese participations, for example the IMTRAT team in earlier tournaments. The Bhutan under-15 team recently got promoted to the elite group in South-east Asia backed by their strong performance in recently held under-15 international tournament, where the Bhutanese team reached the finals. Un like the tournaments held in the past, the first ever Twenty 20 cricket tournament in Bhutan saw two teams from outside Thimphu(Kanglung Hi-Fliers and Drupchu 11) participating in the tournament which made the tournament more interesting. The Bhutan Cricket also takes pride in having international umpires and match referees as well as umpires of international level.

In the recently concluded Twenty 20 cricket tournament, Bhutan Telecom Ltd. remained undefeated in four thrilling matches. They lock horns with Friends United Club in the finals. Bhutan Telecom was crowned the Champion of the first Twenty 20 cricket tournament after they defeated Friends United in the finals by 20 runs and walked away with a huge trophy and cash prize of Nu 5000 apart from individual medals. Mr Suprit of Bhutan Telecom won the man of the match and man of the series award for his excellent all round performance with the bat, ball and in fielding in the tournament.

“And the Champion is…Bhutan Telecom Ltd.” ……The small crowd erupted in cheers and nearby archery players stopped their play as the winner…no…The Champion of the first ever Twenty 20 cricket tournament was announced. It was a sweet music to the ears of BTL team and fans. A well deserved victory.
BTL team became the first victor of the twenty 20 cricket tournament. The feat was achieved by remaining undefeated in four thrilling close matches. But the journey towards getting the coveted trophy was neither easy nor smooth. It required talent, grit, resilience, team spirit and self belief to defeat the determined opponents.

The tournament was well organized and cricket fans could enjoy the live commentary from the cricket experts for the first time. There were also some incentives for the spectators to make the game more interesting…for example…when a batsmen hits the ball out of the cricket ground and into the stands, if a spectators succeeds in catching it, he is rewarded with Nu 50 for his effort.

The only problem that the organizers and the cricket enthusiast have is that there is no proper cricket ground of standard size. The current cricket ground is very small and rough but the organizers and players are hopeful that this all will change in the near future.

The tournament was sponsored by Zimdra Vanaspati, Lhaki Cement and Druk Air Corporation. All viewers interested to know more of cricket can visit the website: - www.bhutancricket.org