The Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat has requested the Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) and Chairman Indian Premier league (IPl) Rajiv Shukla to organise IPl matches in the State as adequate infrastructure is now available here. He was addressing a felicitation ceremony organised by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) here on Thursday in which Shukla was also present.
Rawat said that the Uttarakhand has no dearth of talent and players here only require a good platform to excel. He cited the examples of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Pawan Negi as such examples who excelled at International level. He claimed that soon two new International Cricket stadiums at Raipur (Dehradun) and Haldwani would be completed. The CM expressed hope that BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India) would soon recognise the Uttarakhand Cricket Association. He said that the state is organising the National Games of 2018 to promote sports.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajiv Shukla said that UPCA has decided to organise its third board meeting in State and efforts are being made to encourage players and umpires from the State. Shukla clarified that the IPl matches can be organised only when the Uttarakhand cricket association is provided recognition by the BCCI. However, he added that the Ranji Trophy matches would be organised in the Raipur stadium.
On the occasion the CM honored members of UPCA, which included S K Agarwal, Shoeb Ahmed, Yudhvir Singh, K S Tandon, Manoj Pundeer, DS Chauhan, V D Pathak,Rakesh Mishra, Pradeep Gupta, P C Verma.
The programe was attended by the President of CAU, Hira Singh Bisht, MlA Rajkumar, Hemesh Kharakwal and Vice President of CAU Jot SIngh Gunsola.