Vadodara: The 3rd season of Coca Cola Cricket Cup, aimed at spotting talented teenage cricketers and grooming them, will kick off here from today.
"It gives us all at Coca Cola the immense pleasure and a great sense of satisfaction to announce the launch of Coca Cola Cricket Cup under-16 tournament in Vadodara," said Mayank Arora, zonal vice president, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Ltd.
The 3rd season of the tournament is being organised in collaboration with Procam International, and was rolled out in Delhi today, organisers said at a press conference here.
Arora was addressing reporters with P N Sankaran, Director (Operations) Procam International, along with former cricketers Saba Karim and Atul Bedade.
"It will give talented young players of Gujarat an opportunity to showcase their talent, get identified at the grassroot level and be groomed to play bigger league games in the future," Karim said.
The programme is open to cricketers in the age group of 12-16 years. The tournament will be played across 10 states in over 70 districts involving more than 12,500 young players from more than 850 schools.
The even has been held in Vadodara for the last two years and this time as many as 43 teams from the district have registered their participation.
"We believe that India has great talent in sports. Some of the best sportsmen have come from the most unassuming places, and it is our endeavour to give this talent a platform with robust grassroots initiatives like Coca-Cola Cricket Cup," Karim said.
He also informed about ongoing negotiations with cricket bodies in Australia and Trinidad for sending shortlisted players for training and coaching.
"At present these players are sent to Sri Lanka and England for such training," he added.
