Manipal to host South Zone, Inter-Zone Cricket from Dec 15

83 teams participating South Zone Championship to be followed by All India inter-zonal tourney

 Manipal University will host the South Zone Inter-University Cricket Championship from December 15 to 30, followed by the All India Inter-Zone Inter-University Cricket will tournament from January 1to 6.

Briefing media persons, University Pro-Chancellor Dr H S Ballal said that 83 teams have been drawn up for the fortnight-long tournament which will be formally inaugurated by Board of Control for Cricket in India Chief Administrative Officer Prof Ratnakar Shetty, at a function on December 14.

 “Although we have hosted the South Zone tournament earlier, this time it is going to be a much bigger challenge with many more teams expected to participate,” said Dr Ballal.

“Every aspect has been taken care of to ensure that the teams get the best of the facilities we have here,” he added. Manipal University will also felicitate ex-cricketers from Udupi, Manjunath Mallya, Henry Martin Rodrigues, Vasu Sherigar, Mahabala Ballal, U Damodar and Mohammed Kasim during the occasion.

Manipal University Vice Chancellor Dr K Ramnarayan said that it is a great honor for the University to be hosting such a prestigious tournament.

“We look forward to hosting other games in the coming years as it is an opportunity for our students also to see and gain from the other universities. It will be a rewarding experience for every one,” he said.

Giving technical details of the tournament, Organizing Secretary Dr Vinod Nayak said that the 83 teams have been divided into four pools of A,B,C and D.

The matches will be played on knock-out basis and are all of one-day format. Defending champions Jain University, Bangalore are placed at the bottom of Group D and the runners-up, University of Madras at the top of Group A.

The third placed JNTU, Hyderabad are in Group B and fourth placed Andhra University, Visakhapatnam in Group C. All these teams begin their tournament from the quarter-final stage onwards.

“Almost all the teams have confirmed their participation and we are fully prepared to receive them and are looking forward to some exciting matches,” Dr Nayak said.

Seven grounds will be used for the matches. They are Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Manipal University End Point grounds 1 and 2, MGM College, Udupi, NITK Surathkal grounds 1 and 2 and SMS College Brahmavar, Udupi.

“A total of 82 matches, including the semi-finals and final, will be played. The semi-finals and final will be played at the End Point Grounds. Matches will be officiated by qualified umpires. The district cricket associations of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada will be assisting the university in organising the tournaments,” Dr Nayak said.

Initially seven matches will be played every day and then it will be six. The first semi-finalists from Group A will be known on December 26. And the next day two teams for the last-four stage will emerge from Groups B and C. And finally on December 28, Group D semi-finalists will be known. The semi-finals will be played on December 29 and the final the next day.

After a gap of one day, all-India Inter-Zonal tournament will get under way. The tournament starts on January 1 and continues till January 6. About the boarding and lodging for the teams, the Registrar, Dr G K Prabhu said that all the players and officials coming for the tournament will be housed in the hostels and guest houses of the university.

The players and officials will have their food at the MIT food court, which can cater to over 2,000 at a time. University transport will be used to ferry the teams and officials to the various grounds.