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Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Lost parents when he was toddler, Gully cricket's best batsman drives auto to support his dreams
Mohammad Shahbaz lost his parents when he was barely two years old. On Friday, after collecting the best batsman's trophy in the boys' category in the third edition of the UTCA Chandigarh Police Gully Cricket Tournament, Shahbaz (18) of Team 187, while celebrating with his teammates, remembered his parents Mohammad Lateef and Zehrunnissa. The trophy was given by Chandigarh Administrator and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria at Punjab Raj Bhavan on Friday. A student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, and fan of Virat Kohli, Shahbaz, currently drives a rented auto in Bapu Dham apart from managing his studies, to support his dreams. 'I was two years old when I lost both my parents to illness. I was raised by my maternal grandmother Jainab at our native village in Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh and had come to Chandigarh eight years ago to stay with my maternal uncle. Later in 2019, I shifted staying alone and training in cricket under various coaches. Early this year, I started driving an auto to support myself. I dedicate this trophy to my parents,' said Shahbaz while speaking with The Indian Express. The youngster had been training under UT coach Harish Sharma in 2022 at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 32. He competed in the first edition of the UTCA Chandigarh Police Gully Cricket Tournament in 2023 and was part of the runner-up Team 53 scoring more than 200 runs in the tournament. This year, Shahbaz scored 254 runs and took 11 wickets in the tournament. While he will be trained by UTCA for further training, the youngster will also be returning to drive his auto post his school and training to support himself. 'I have been training under Harish sir and also play local tennis ball matches. Most of my free time is spent driving the auto to support my training and other expenses. To be selected by UTCA for further training will motivate me to improve further,' the 18-year-old said. The cricketer had also saved money to watch his idol Virat Kohli play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Punjab Kings in an IPL match at Mullanpur last month. 'I save money to watch Virat play. Hopefully the team will win the play-offs matches here and I will try to get a ticket for the matches at Mullanpur. I hope Virat sir wins the IPL trophy this time in the final at Ahmedabad,' Shahbaz concluded. Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘Balla ghumao, nasha bhagao': Punjab Governor appeals to youth at felicitation event
Addressing the winners and runner-up teams of the third edition of the UTCA Chandigarh Police Gully Cricket Tournament, Chandigarh Administrator and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria urged the youth to stay committed to the tournament's theme 'Balla ghumao, nasha bhagao', of taking up sport and staying away from the menace of drugs. The tournament was suspended earlier this month due to the hostilities between India and Pakistan and the final matches were played on May 17. Kataria felicitated the players in a special function at Punjab Raj Bhavan on Friday, which also saw the presence of UTCA president Sanjay Tandon and UT SSP Kanwardeep Kaur apart from UT Education and Sports Secretary Prerna Puri. 'As the youth of the city, each one of you has to stay committed to the theme 'Balla ghumao, nasha bhagao'. One of the targets for us is to make Chandigarh as well Punjab drug free and I applaud UTCA and Chandigarh Police for such endeavour. I congratulate all the winners as well as runner-up teams and I am sure next time, the runner-up team's target will be to win the trophy,' said Kataria while addressing the function. A total of 576 teams including 6912 players competed in the tournament in the boys and girls categories combined. In the boys' final, Team Number 187 claimed the title with a 31-run win over Team Number 311, while team number 1 scored a 35-run win over Team Number 52 in the girls' final played on May 17. Kataria also announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for each outstanding player of the tournament. Mohammad Shahbaz of Team Number 187 was adjudged as the best batsman of the tournament as she scored 254 runs in seven matches. Suraj Kumar was adjudged as the best bowler with 17 wickets in five matches in the boy's category. In the girls' category, Prabhjot Kaur was adjudged as the best batsman with 123 runs in six matches while Ayana Siwach was adjudged as the best bowler with 11 wickets. 'This tournament has been unearthing talent at the grass roots level and our motive is to keep the youth away from drugs and create a drug free society. Along with Chandigarh Police, we have been successfully conducting this tournament since 2022 and to see participation of more than 6,000 players this year is overwhelming for each one of us. The top players will be given training by UTCA and nurtured by UTCA,' said Tandon.
Indian Express
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Chandigarh: UTCA postpones gully cricket tournament indefinitely
Amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, the third edition of the UTCA Chandigarh Police Gully Cricket Tournament has been postponed indefinitely. The tournament, which was seeing the participation of 576 teams and more than 6,600 players, had started April 20. The tournament was in the quarter-final stage with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final to be played this week. 'This is a time when national priorities take precedence, and we stand united with the country. Hence, we have postponed the third edition of Gully Cricket tournament indefinitely. The tournament had seen 507 matches in boys' format and 58 matches in girls' format across 16 venues in the Tricity. Now the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be held later whenever the time is right and suitable,' said Sanjay Tandon, UTCA president, while addressing media persons. The UTCA has also shortlisted 72 boys and 10 girls for advanced training based on their performances in the tournament. In 2024, a total of 3,456 players had registered themselves for the tournament. The UTCA had selected 20 of them; with the final match held at the Sector 16 stadium. The registration process this year was conducted through all the police stations across Chandigarh and ended on April 7 early this month. In 2023, a total of 208 teams — 204 teams in boys' category and four teams in girls' category — competed in the tournament. Meanwhile, the final day of the Indian Golf Union 25th edition of Samarvir Sahi Golf Championship played at Chandigarh Golf Course was also suspended. Any decision regarding winner or no winner is to be awaited by the Indian Golf Union.
