G Murali trophy: Delhi Police thrash Press to retain title

Playing the G Murali Trophy's match at Arun Jaitley (Firozeshah Kotla) stadium, Commissioner of Police Delhi Sachida Nand Shrivastava, who is due to retire in June this year, proved that age is no bar if you strike a perfect balance between body and mind. He set an example for the young lot playing the game last Sunday. He exhibited a good deal of stamina and temperament by his consistent bowling spell and batting prowess who delicately glanced down the deep fine leg for the winning boundary and remained unbeaten. Above all, it's recorded unprecedented that any police commissioner in office could play the whole 20-over format cricket match under the scorching sun.

"G Murali, a crime reporter with Patriot, died during a mountaineering expedition in 1981. CR Association along with PRO Delhi Police instituted a trophy G Muarli Trophy in his memory. A cricket match is played every year in February- March between Delhi Police and crime reporters. Lieutenant Governor, Delhi has been the chief guest on a few occasions. The great commentator Jasdev Singh graced some matches with running commentary. Vijay Karan was in office as police chief during 1989-91. The family of G Murali also used to participate in the event. His brother Raju Gopalkrishnan has been coming from Singapore where he has settled after a brief stint with PTI Delhi, to attend the match for some time." Ravi Pawar, former PRO, Delhi Police elaborated upon how the Trophy began.

Media XI (correspondents reporting crime) captained by Suresh Jha won the toss and elected to bat on the well rolled batting track immaculately prepared by the curator Ankit Datta, the curator. Chirag and Sufi opened the innings but got out cheaply and returned to the dugout in the fourth over. The Media XI was badly floundering. SN Shrivastava bowled his quota consistently from both ends and conceded 17 runs. The right arm seamer Sikander did the maximum damage where Surya, Singhla and Rohit Meena contained the batsmen. Hemant and Deepak pulled the team out of the crisis pushed the side up with ones and twos, and brought the total to the respectable 134.

Chasing the meagre total on this perfect wicket with lush green carpet around was a cakewalk for the police. The veteran Satish Golcha and VP Surya opened the innings for the Force, did some quick fireworks, and fetched the victory; still left with five overs to bowl. DC Srivastava and Alok Kumar played some fine knocks and Vikas hit hard and sent the ball many a time far over the rope.

Anto Alphonse kept wicket and was declared the Best Fielder award and Hemant was adjudged the Best Batsman for his unbeaten 70.

The match was convened and coordinated by Shakeel Ahmed, Joginder Solanki, Rajiv Nishana, Farhan Yahiya and skipper Jha.

Present at the event from the police fraternity were Taj Hasan, Sanjay Singh, Balaji Shrivastava, Sundari Nanda, Rajesh Khurana, Neeraj Thakur, NS Bundela, Sathia Sundram and Jasmeet Singh.

Babar Khan with PRO Police ACP Anil Mittal co-ordinated the event and made it a success.

PK Soni commentated in style elaborating on every single detail from the pitch report to the commentary box to the presentation area. Whereas in Hindi was Mausam Gani who brought ball to ball commentary to the viewers.

Rohan Jaitley, son of late Arun Jaitley, veteran BJP leader and cabinet minister, was the Chief Guest on the occasion who appreciated both the sides in his address. CP Srivastava boosted the morale of his team and wished the Media good luck next time.

DDCA Umpires Manbir Singh and Ravi Rawal officiated the match with finesse. Pradeep Kumar (Deepa) was the main scorer and Udit did the on-line scoring.

Other distinguished guests from the press pavilion were Ravi Pawar former spokesperson, Delhi Police, Lalit Vats, Joginder Solanki, Dinesh Vats, Ramakant Goswami, Sanjay Vohra (also the member of the playing XI squad), Vijay Sharma, Pramod Singh, Tanseem Haider, Sandeep Sehgal, Satender Tripathi and Sanjeev Yadav.

COVID 19 protocol was strictly followed.