logo
Sheesh Mahal Trophy to be revived, says CAL chief Sehgal

Sheesh Mahal Trophy to be revived, says CAL chief Sehgal

Time of India2 days ago
Lucknow: After a landslide victory for a straight fifth term as president of the Cricket Association Lucknow (CAL), former IAS officer and Prasar Barati chairman Navneet Sehgal has plans to revive the prestigious tournament of Sheesh Mahal trophy in Lucknow.
While the present generation of cricket lovers would most likely link the city of nawabs with Lucknow Super Giants, the
IPL
cricket franchise owned by the RPSG Group, but Lucknow's connection with cricket dates back to the days when the Sheesh Mahal trophy used to be quite popular. It was conducted from 1951 to 2002 by Askari Hasan. Later, after a break of a few years,
Sahara India
revived the prestigious tournament and conducted it till 2010, but the IPL sounded its death knell as both tournaments were played in the summer.
Talking to TOI, Sehgal said, "We have a plan to revive the prestigious Sheesh Mahal trophy. The ownership of this tournament is with Sahara India, so we will discuss it with our CAL vice-president Abhijit Sarkar, who was instrumental in the revival and running of the tournament. We will conduct an official meeting and start the process after a long gap."
Sarkar said, "It's a great initiative and we are ready for this, but we need a proper calendar from Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) or Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) so that all the state-level as well as national-level cricketers are able to represent their corporate teams and participate in this most popular tournament.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Indian NRIs Are Getting Eligible For INR 2 Lakh Monthly Pension On Retirement. Invest 18K/M
investmentlife.policybazaar
Get Offer
Undo
Earlier, all top corporate teams and players came and performed here and got selected in the Indian team.
"
"We will try to revive the Sheesh Mahal trophy. In the last edition, we had changed the format and converted to T20 with a coloured dress. Unfortunately, for the least 15 years we have not been able to organise the tournament because of lack of a proper playing calendar," Sarkar told TOI.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

ECB aims for IPL-like success as Indian groups invest in The Hundred
ECB aims for IPL-like success as Indian groups invest in The Hundred

Business Standard

time20 minutes ago

  • Business Standard

ECB aims for IPL-like success as Indian groups invest in The Hundred

The investment of four IPL owners into The Hundred will enable the England and Wales Cricket Board-backed event to grow rapidly and learn immensely from the skills possessed by the top minds working for the world's biggest T20 league. Out of the eight teams in the 100-ball competition, four will be partially owned by owners of Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals (only GMR group involved). After a long delay, the ECB finalised the deals with the IPL and other investors on Wednesday. Reliance Group, which will own 49 percent of the London-based Oval franchise, and Trent Rockets are yet to close agreements with the ECB. "It's brilliant. You look at what the IPL has done, forget cricket, in sport in general, the growth it's achieved in 18 short years. It's nothing short of phenomenal," said Vikram Banerji, Managing Director of The Hundred, in response to a PTI query on Thursday. "So the growth and the learnings, both on the field and off the field, that they can bring into this tournament, with the balance of the other investors that we've got from America and wherever else, I'm really excited about that side of things, about the skill sets that are now coming into English cricket," he said. The deal will take effect from 2026 season and the investors will take operation control of the franchise from October 1, 2025. Asked about the reason for the delay in closing the agreement with the Reliance-backed Oval franchise and Trent Rockets, Banerji said: "Right at the start we offered all the investors the opportunity to sign and close immediately whenever the legals were all done and have some involvement in this year. "On the whole, it's been run as it was, or close formally at the end of the season, early October, when they close formally, when they take operational control of the name of the brand. So those two chose that months ago. "With Trent Rockets, it's documents were signed and all the rest of it fully there. With the Oval Invincibles, there's three things left on their venue hire stuff that they're working through. They're small things, it'll be a matter of weeks, and that'll get signed out." Banerji and the rest of the stakeholders will soon have a meeting with the new investors for the tournament operations from 2026 onwards. Barring The Hundred, all leagues including the IPL are being played in the T20 format. Is there an inclination from the IPL owners to switch to the standard T20 format from the current 100-ball a side format? "I think you have to look at what works in this country. There have been some discussions around kind of it works elsewhere, but in this country, the format has provided us with some really interesting things, especially from a broadcast perspective in terms of the reach it's provided and that ability to create a new crowd. "At the moment, it's the 100 format, and that will remain for now. But let's see where we get to in a month," said Banerji, who added the participation of active Indian players remains off the card despite the IPL investment into the competition. Sitting alongside Banerji, ECB chief executive Richard Gould, was also asked about the participation of Pakistan players in The Hundred in light of Indian investment. No Pakistan player was picked in the 2025 draft for different reasons. Gould asserted the ECB will take action if the owners are found to be discriminatory in player selection irrespective of his nationality. "We would expect players of all nations to be selected for all teams. I haven't had the need to have any discussion at this point (with new investors)." So is the latest draft just a coincidence? "I don't, I don't know. But we have not had any discussions with the owners at this point. But, we've got very clear anti-discrimination policies within cricket in England. And if those are, if those are not adhered to, our cricket regulator will take action," said Gould. Now that the deals are done, the ECB expects the change in name of at least three teams backed by IPL team owners including Reliance, RPSG and GMR. The sale of stakes have catapulted the valuation of teams to over 975 million pounds with more than 500 million pounds set to be invested in English cricket.

Tharun and Lakshya Sen advance to Macau Open quarterfinals with big wins
Tharun and Lakshya Sen advance to Macau Open quarterfinals with big wins

Business Standard

time20 minutes ago

  • Business Standard

Tharun and Lakshya Sen advance to Macau Open quarterfinals with big wins

India's Tharun Mannepalli shocked top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong to enter the quarterfinals of the Macau Open along with compatriot Lakshya Sen here on Thursday. Tharun rallied splendidly to outwit Lee, a world No. 15, 19-21, 21-14, 22-20 in a match that went past the hour-mark. The 23-year-old, holder of world No. 47 ranking, now has reached his second quarterfinals of a Super 300 tournament after entering the last eight at the German Open in February. In the quarterfinals, Tharun will face world No. 87 Hu Zhe An of China. Later, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen fought past Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia 21-14, 14-21, 21-17 to enter the last-eight stage. However, Ayush Shetty was ousted after a 18-21, 16-21 loss to Malaysia's Justin Hoh. In the women's singles India's Rakshitha Ramraj went down against Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand 21-14, 10-21, 11-21 in a match that lasted 51 minutes. In the mixed doubles, fifth-seeded Indian duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost to Malaysia's Jimmy Wong and Lai Pei Jing 21-19, 13-21, 18-21. In the men's doubles, Pruthvi Roy and K. Sai Pratheek lost to fourth-seeded Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap of Malaysia 18-21, 18-21. In later matches, ace second seeded men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will meet Japan's Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi. In the women's doubles, Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra will tussle against the eighth-seeded Meilysa Puspitasari and Rachel Rose of Indonesia.

Ahead of new season, ECB says The Hundred hasn't attracted new fans to other three formats
Ahead of new season, ECB says The Hundred hasn't attracted new fans to other three formats

Indian Express

time20 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

Ahead of new season, ECB says The Hundred hasn't attracted new fans to other three formats

With a new season of The Hundred around the corner, England and Wales Cricket Board has admitted that there is no evidence that new fans attracted by the tournament have gone on to attend other forms of the game. When the ECB launched the tournament in a new format – 100 balls per side – it claimed to attract a new set of fans who are different to the three formats that already exist. According to The Guardian, a report published last October stated that 31% of tickets for the Hundred have been bought by women, that 23% were bought for juniors and that 41% of buyers attended in family groups. On Thursday, the 8 teams in The Hundred, which received their first down payments through investment from private parties that includes IPL franchises, ECB's chief executive Richard Gould stated that there is no study to find out if the new fans who watched the tournament tried to stay connected with cricket for the rest of the year. 'That's probably a bit of work that we now need to do going forward,' Gould said. 'Just to check that when people do come in, where do they go? Because you might get some coming in to Test cricket [who] then go to the Hundred, and Hundred into Test cricket. We haven't done that work in any great detail.' With IPL franchises buying stake in the franchises, there are indications that going forward the tournament could converted into T20s. With IPL teams wanting to leave their imprint, potential name changes seem to be in the horizon. 'That's the kind of conversation we're starting to get into now,' said Vikram Banerjee, the tournament's managing director. 'It would be slightly odd to bring all these great people in and then just leave it as it is.' Earlier this year, the ECB announced that the County's which own share of the 8 teams can either sell their entire share or part of it. It generated interest from IPL franchises, with Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants investing in different teams.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store