Chandigarh, September 10
It was a noble gesture on the part of DAV School, Sector 8, to invite the u-19 cricket team from Pakistan to play a friendly Twenty20 cricket series here. An 18-member delegation from Pakistan, including 14 players from different schools of Pakistan, arrived in the city today evening.

The series will have five cricket matches of 20 overs each against teams of various cricket academies of the city at different venues.

Coach and manager of the Pakistan team Qureshi Mohammad Shahzaad, along with the young Pakistani crew, seemed excited to be part of this tour.

“We had a wrong perception about the people of India. But when we came here, I found the people to be very friendly, loving and nice,” remarked the coach.

“It is my third visit to the city. The flavour of this uniquely designed neat and clean city compelled us to come here again,” expressed Shahrukh, little captain of the Lahore team. All-rounder Shahrukh had earlier come to City Beautiful during the Friendship Series cricket tournament held at the St John’s-26 grounds and another series played at the DAV grounds a few months ago. For former cricketer and DAV-8 chief coach Yog Raj, it was an attempt to spread a message of harmony between the two countries. “Cricket is treated like a religion in both countries and there is no better way to promote brotherhood and develop the spirit of sportsmanship,” said Yog Raj. “With this arrangement, our kids will assess their potential in comparison to our neighbouring state’s talent,” he added.

About future plans, DAV principal Dr Vibha Ray said there were more such series on the agenda with cricket-playing nations like South Africa,West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Chandigarh, September 10
Fine batting by Rohin enabled Chandigarh Youth XI to defeat Kishangarh XI by 58 runs in a match played for the Chandigarh Trophy at the Government Senior Secondary School-27 today. The tourney is being organised by the UT Cricket Association.

Chandigarh made 203 in 25 overs. Rohin and Ajay Pratap contributed 89 and 36 runs, respectively.

In reply, Kishangarh XI could garner only 145 in 24.5 overs.

Brief scores

Chandigarh XI: 203 in 25 overs (Rohin 89, Ajay Pratap 36, Ashok 2 for 21).

Kishangarh XI: 145 in 24.5 overs (Naresh 28, Vijay 24, Aman Deep 4 for 21, Harinder 3 for 21).

Other results

DAV-15 b PCC XI by 46 runs.

DAV-15: 160 for 8 in 25 overs (Aayush 63, Lakhan 22, Mukesh Pidha 5 for 22, Paramjit 2 for 37).

PCC XI: 114 in 20 overs (Shiv 19, Sanjeev 18, Partik 3 for 23, Gursahib 2 
for 12).

Talwar XI b PU Science XI by 29 runs.

Talwar XI: 164 for 7 in 25 overs (Surinder 38, Happy 33, Vishaln 2 for 20).

PU Science XI: 132 in 22.4 overs (Munish 34, Monu 4 for 7, Happy 2 
for 17).

DAV-15 b GSSS XI by 10 wickets.

DAV-15: 79 for no loss in 10.2 overs (Lakhan 36, Kunal 25).

GSSS XI: 76 all out in 18.4 overs (Ravinder 15, Parveen 14, Akshit 2 for 5, Gursahib 2 for 17).

Chandigarh, September 10
The Chandigarh administration and Haryana Cricket Association held a joint meeting at the UT secretariat here today to review the preparations for the forthcoming one-day international between India and Australia. The match is slated to be played on October 8 at the Sector 16 cricket stadium. Adviser to the administrator Lalit Sharma, secretary-general of the Haryana Cricket Association Ranbir Singh Mahendra, UT home secretary Krishna Mohan, finance secretary S.K. Sandhu, CITCO MD Jasbir Singh Bir, DC R.K. Rao, IGP S.K. Jain, SSP S.S. Srivastava, SSP (traffic) A.S. Ahlawat, chief engineer V.K. Bhardwaj, ADC and sports director I.S. Sandhu attended the meeting.

The officials said the progress of the preparations was satisfactory.

Chandigarh, September 10
The Chandigarh Wrestling Association will conduct trials to select the Chandigarh boys’ and girls’ teams on September 16 at the wrestling coaching centre in Sector 30 from 9 am.

Association secretary Darshan Lal Sharma said the selected boys and girls would represent Chandigarh in the junior nationals wrestling championships to be held in Srinagar from September 20 to 23.

Meanwhile, the trials to select the Chandigarh women’s cricket team for the Haryana inter-district tournament will be held on September 12 at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, at 4 pm. Interested players can contact Jogita at the venue. — TNS

Chandigarh, September 10
Gaurav with his 65 runs in the first innings helped Chandigarh Cricket Association (CCA) to get a one-point lead over Karnal Cricket Association (KCA) in the two-day league match of the inter-district u-17 tournament being played at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19.

Batting first, Chandigarh chipped in 213 runs in 75.5 overs in the first innings. Gaurav was the top scorer with 65 and Rohit gave him full support with 53 runs. From KCA, Sagar took five wickets, conceding 79 runs.

In reply, KCA collected 148 in 74.5 overs. Adhitya and Swaraj scored 24 and 23 runs, respectively.

Amandeep and Navdeep (CCA) with their fine bowling spell took three wickets each.

In the second innings, CCA were 36 for one. Rakesh with his 27 runs (n o) was credited as the top scorer. CCA grabbed one point on the basis of the first-innings lead.

Chandigarh, September 10
The shifting of local industrial units to other areas, particularly Baddi, continues unabated in the wake of indifferent attitude of the Chandigarh administration.

The de-registration of 25 industrial units by the district industries centre recently hints at official admission of the shifting of the units from the city to adjoining areas. The adjoining areas, especially Baddi, provide an ideal destination for the entrepreneurs in the backdrop of the special industrial package announced by the Centre.

In fact, the shifting of the industry has not surprised industrialists, who have been alleging step-motherly treatment at the hands of the administration.

The “anti-industry” policies of the department concerned spur the local units to shift to better places, said Rajiv Gupta, general secretary, Federation of Small Scale Industries, here yesterday.

With hardly any space for the expansion of the industry and no basic amenities worth the name in Industrial Areas I and II, the shifting of the industry is natural. But the administration has chosen to turn a blind eye to industry’s plight over the years, Gupta asserted.

Lack of amenities and general recessionary trends in the industrial scenario “compelled” certain plot owners to go in for the conversion of the industrial plots into commercial areas hoping that new ventures might be profitable, the industrialist claimed.

Interestingly, the list of de-registered units has a fair share of pharmaceutical and engineering units. In fact, a large number of pharma and engineering units have been set up in Baddi in the recent past giving credence to the fact that Baddi is gaining at the expense of the neighbouring areas.

Official sources conceded that the shifting of the industry was a common phenomenon in any area where the neighbouring areas had been given special incentives. The shifting of the industry was more to do with special package in the areas like Baddi than lack of infrastructure here, the sources claimed.

The administration has decided to spend over Rs 50 crore on the improvement of the infrastructure of the industrial areas.