Colleges that are located close to each other often establish rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry typically extends into all playgrounds but sporting rivalry is what people mostly remember. In the cricketing world, there are many college rivalries that exist. These rivalries are one of the vital cogs which maintain the popularity of college cricket. A lot of pride and bragging rights are at stake and college teams take these matches very seriously.
Given how popular cricket is, almost every student plays it and many of them are very good at it. Every college has year-wise teams and it is a matter of prestige to get into the team. It is an arduous process and at times over 150 people try to grab a spot to represent their college. Players train hard and typically put in a couple of hours daily after classes to learn and polish their skills. The best of the lot make the cut. This ensures that the quality of cricket played amongst colleges is not compromised.
There are a lot of tournaments that are played at the campus level. It starts from the intercity and district level and extends to the state and national level. In India, BCCI pays close attention to college cricket. Top players from each zone form a team and compete in the Vizzy Trophy. Nowadays, we even have college tournaments which involve other countries.
At the above mentioned tournaments, college students get to play in stadiums which host international cricket matches. They use state-of-art facilities under the watchful eyes of proper coaching staff. These opportunities help the students to hone their skills and become better cricketers. It also provides an excellent opportunity to showcase their talent to a large audience which might help them land a PSU or corporate job under the sports quota or get into the U-21, U-23 and First Class teams.
With so much at stake, it is not hard to see why college cricket is extremely competitive and the players give it their all to win matches.
Leave a comment