Star-studded Cricket Gala in Los Angeles in June 2018
By Bhartti Kumar

Artesia, CA: PR Man Singh, a well-known Indian cricket player, more famous as the manager of the remarkable 1983 game when India won the World Cup, is now all set to organize an international cricket game in June 2018 at Blair Field Stadium in Long Beach.
This star-studded Cricket Gala is being planned for the first time in the US, featuring popular cricket players of yesteryear, from six countries, Singh told India-West.
“The game of cricket is played here by men in their forties, forming groups within their neighborhoods and playing on the weekends. However, it is not as popular as it should be,” said Singh. “The young generation is not in tune with it, though the seniors have nostalgic memories about it. I want to bring more awareness to it here.”
Singh said he and his team are organizing a two-day event and will bring six international teams with their famous players. The first day will have two teams playing against each other, and the second day will be the semifinals and finals.
The players will be senior cricket celebrities, Singh disclosed, which “will revive the enthusiasm amongst the senior Indians, and they will feel part of the cricket loving community here instead of an aloof set of neighboring teams,” he told India-West.
The participating countries and assigned team names to look forward to are the Indian Blazers, Pakistani Panthers, Lankan Lions, Bangla Tigers, Caribbean Cavaliers, and American Eaglets, said Singh. The teams will participate in a 6-A-Side Tournament, meaning each team plays with 6 players for 5 overs per innings. The batsmen will try to score as many runs as possible while 5 bowlers can bowl 1 over each.
“I want to spread the gospel of cricket. In between games, the players will speak to share their experience and knowledge,” Singh told India-West.
Singh has already spoken to past charismatic players like Mohammed Azharuddin and Alvin Kallicharran and some others, though minute details have yet to be finalized. Local dignitaries will be invited “to awaken the cricket craze,” he added.
In response to how cricket has changed, Singh told India-West, “We used to have managers who managed every aspect of the team, now managers are pushed back and coach takes charge of all aspects. He can see the team on the stadium, so he decides the position and part of each player. Also, earlier, the players were from elite families and modern cities, whereas today, with the help of media, the cricket fever and coaching classes are in every village and most players have come up from remote areas.”
He added, “There is too much commercialization, which has its drawbacks, but most of the money is put back in the improvement of the game to bring it to the world stage.”
Singh joined his father’s family business, but his passion soon drove him to cricket. He had a lot of interesting stories and encounters during his active years, he said.
Chandra Roy and Nishant Patel are the strong pillars supporting his endeavor to bring the glamour and festivity of this sport to the US, he said.
Roy retired from his professional career a few years ago. He founded and runs the Southern California Winter League for the last 18 years.
Patel is an entrepreneur and owns a motel and a logistics company, and also plays club cricket in Southern California.
The organizers are seeing more sponsors to bring full impact and success to this event. The website will soon be updated and more details about the tournament will be published in the near future. For more information, visit www.scwlcricket.com or contact 626-815-0739 (Roy) and 562-644-2363 (Patel). - Courtesy India West