BANGALORE: Can you imagine a Twenty20 football match being played inside a metallic cage ? Quite an innovative way of playing football that kickstarted in the city in the presence of cricketer Virat Kohli.
Commenting on the occasion Kohli said, “I am here to lend my support for the sport and I would like to congratulate all the participants who are all set to put forward an exciting game of football.
I hope yougistaanis will take the sport forward.” A rather large crowd gathered to witness the T 20 football match.
When City Express spoke to some spectators, reactions were positive.
Aman Kumar, who is currently pursuing an interior designing course said, “It is good to see the growth of even other sports and not just cricket.
With the IPL euphoria thriving in the city, I hope other sports too get this much deserved prominence.” “Frankly, I am a cricket fan, and I am here to see Virat, but I took time to watch this unique form of football and surprisingly, I enjoyed it, said Suraj Chakraborthy, a student pursuing MMBS.
The registration for Bangalore was held between March 21-27.
Amateur footballers between the age of 14 to 30 years were allowed to register for seven membered teams at designated venues.
Open to all, matches will be organised across major Indian cities.
Apart from Bangalore other cities are Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Delhi.
Nearly 64 teams from each city will compete in knock-out matches for 20-minutes and the top 32 will compete in the respective city finale.
A total of eight teams, including one winning team from each city and one wild card entry will compete to emerge as ‘game changers’.
They will then get the opportunity to be coached by an international football star.