Munaf Patel inaugurates cricket tournament

CHICAGO: United Christian Cultural Association [UCCA] kicked-off their 2015 UCCA Cricket Tournament ceremoniously with India’s star cricketer Munaf Patel serving as the chief guest. The presence of the Indian star clearly enthused the young cricket teams gathered on Saturday, May 23 at the Dee Park Cricket Ground in Desplaines, a north side suburb of Chicago.

The crisp sunny Memorial weekend afternoon brought cheers, applause and accolades to Munaf as he inaugurated the two-month long thrilling Inter-Church Cricket tournament beginning with the first match which kicked off to a rousing start.

In his brief remarks, Munaf said he was honored to be at the inaugural ceremony to kick-off the cricket tournament which, he said, would help augur the promotion of cricket in Chicago. He commended the teams and spent extended time taking pictures and talking about the finer elements of the game of cricket to the team captains and members; thus endearing himself to the avid cricket fans.

Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, UCCA Director, in his inaugural remarks praised the UCCA leadership for their remarkable efforts in putting together a resolutely competitive cricket tournament complete with festive atmosphere, exciting trophies, cash awards and prizes. Keerthi acknowledged several community leaders present at the inaugural, more notably, Iftekhar Shareef for facilitating the presence of ace cricketer Munaf Patel at the inaugural ceremony and added it is the goal of UCCA to see a new generation of youth embracing the game of cricket.

Pledging his unstinted support to the cricket tournament and other community-oriented events Iftekhar Shareef said cricket is perhaps one of the most potent sports that has intrinsic magical propensity to bring the community youth together. Raju Pasumarthi, UCCA President, outlined the vision of the UCCA and said it is excited to unveil a series of memorable programs which seek to bring the community’s youth together and bring out their latent talents in the sportsmanship spirit of competition.

Vasant Charles, Director, conducted the inaugural program and said that UCCA has been hosting cricket tournaments for the last three years and this tournament matches will be spread across two months with the grand championship finals slated for August 8. Vinay Bandikalla, Tournament Co-Chair explained the tournament format.

Shirley Kalvakota presented flower bouquets to Munaf Patel and Iftekhar Shareef.

Surendra Ullal