It seems the Swarnim Gujarat year has been lucky for chief minister Narendra Modi.
It seems the Swarnim Gujarat year has been lucky for chief minister Narendra Modi. He attracted record-breaking investments during the Global Investors Summit earlier this month. On Friday, the Gujarat cricket team was crowned U-19 Cooch Behar Elite 2010-11 champions for the first time in the history of the tournament. It is to be noted that Modi is president of the Gujarat Cricket Association.
On the final day of the championship match at KB Desai stadium, Valsad, the home team needed to score 205 in 90 overs. Captain Avi Barot and Bhargav Merai contributed 32 and 34 runs respectively but it needed a special effort from JN Prajapati (60 off 95 balls), to help his team reach the target. Gujarat hit the winning runs - 205/8 - in the 63rd over. “The match was swinging like a pendulum. We held our nerves and won it. It is a very satisfying victory,” Barot said after the victory.
The champions earned a cheque of Rs6 lakh and GCA will give them a similar amount. “The boys deserve rewards. So we also intend to award them with Rs6 lakh,” informed Rajesh Patel, GCA secretary.
“It was a collective effort. Everyone chipped in when it mattered. Avi has been exceptional this season, but efforts of Rush (Kaleria -- 34 wickets) and Rushang (Patel -- 21 wickets) were equally crucial,” said Rajiv Desai, coach of the team. Desai also added that an outright victory over Uttar Pradesh in the last league match was the turning point. “The win injected lot of confidence in the boys. At that time I sensed a place in the final,” the coach added.
It has been a phenomenal season for Barot as captain, wicketkeeper and opening batsman. In seven matches Barot has scored 940 runs, with four centuries including a double ton against Uttar Pradesh. “It was a very crucial match. We need good points to qualify. We did it with an innings victory. It was special,” said Barot who hailed the part played by Hardeep Trivedi and Smit Patel in the league stages of the championship.
All the age-group and Ranji Trophy teams improved their performances as compared to last year. Playing in the Elite division, Parthiv Patel and group missed the Ranji Trophy knockout stage by three points. In 2009-10 they had survived relegation to the Plate group. The U-22 team, joint winners of the CK Nayudu trophy 2009-10, managed a semifinal finish this year, while the U-19 side lifted the Cooch Behar Trophy after winning the Plate group the previous year.
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