Chamba senior citizens team to play cricket match in Hamirpur

The Chamba Senior Citizen Cricket Team will tour Hamirpur to play a goodwill match on November 9. The team is scheduled to leave for Hamirpur tomorrow.

Team captain Major SC Nayyar (retd), who heads the Chamba Senior Citizen Cricket Association, said that the goodwill cricket tradition dates back to the princely era when the rulers of Mandi, Kullu and Suket played friendly matches among themselves.

Major Nayyar, who had earlie served as the secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and the All India Junior Cricket (BCCI), said, “In 1932, an unofficial cricket team had visited Chamba to play a goodwill match against the veteran team of late Raja Ram Singh, the then ruler of Chamba.”

To revive this heritage, the Chamba Cricket Association organised its first goodwill match against Mandi in 2007. Since then, the team had played against various teams, including from Sundernagar, Nahan, Una, Kullu, Solan, Kangra, Shimla, Lahaul and Kinnaur, where they last played at Kalpa.

Major Nayyar said the main aim of these matches is “to strengthen bonds, affection and fraternity among senior citizens while keeping them mentally, physically and spiritually fit.”

Before their departure, the team met Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Repaswal, who extended his best wishes for their upcoming match.

The team comprises Sushil Kumar, Anil, Sanjay Attari, Varinder Malhotra, Pawan Kumar, Krishan, Surender, Yogender, Rajat, Bobby, Dinesh, Monu and Ramesh.