LUCKNOW: The gentlemen’s game with a fixed dress decorum being played in the ensemble of seers donning yellow and saffron dhoti-dupatta with tika-tripund on forehead redefined Cricket on the grounds of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University (SSU) in Varanasi on Wednesday. While the Vedic students of Sanskrit institutions of the holy city were exhibiting their talent with the bat and the ball flawlessly, the commentary in Sanskrit was undoubtedly an added attraction.
The occasion was 74th Foundation Day of Shastrarth Mahavidyalaya. To commemorate it, SSU had organised a district-level inter college cricket tournament for Sanskrit colleges on Wednesday.
Five teams of different colleges including Shastrarth Mahavidyalaya, Chandramauli International Sanskrit Vidyalaya, Challa Subba Shastri Ved Vedang Vidyalaya and Kathiya Baba Ashram Ved Vedang Vidyalaya participated in the event, said programme coordinator Acharya Pawan Kumar Shukla. It was a day-long event in which each fixture was an 8-over match.
The team-A of Shastrarth Mahavidhyalaya won the trophy defeating team-B of the same college in the final of eight-over match by nine wickets (navam dandadharakah). Earlier, winning mudra kshepan (toss) the vedic students of Chandramauli International Sanskrit Vidyalaya opted batting against Challa Subba Shastri Ved Vedang Vidyalaya in the first match of the tournament. The second match was played between Shastrarth Mahavidhyalaya (A) and Kathiya Baba Ashram Ved Vedang Vidyalaya, while in the semi final Mahavidhyalaya (B) locked horn with Challa Subba Shastri Ved Vedang Vidyalaya.
The tournament was inaugurated by the principal of Shastrarth Mahavidhyalaya Dr. Ganesh Dutta Shastri. Dr. Shesh Narayan Mishra and Vikas Dikshit gave running commentary in Sanskrit, while the umpiring was done by former cricketers Sanjeev Tiwari and Omji Pandey.