Mumbai, Feb 14 (IANS) Mumbai Indians franchise are known for providing opportunities to young talent and the MI Junior tournament is a testament to that, said former India pacer Jhulan Goswami, the Team Mentor and Bowling Coach of the Women’s Team of Mumbai Indians.
“I am really happy to see the participation from the boys and girls across age groups at MI Junior. Mumbai Indians are known for providing opportunities to young talent, and MI Junior is a testament to that, at the grassroots level. My best wishes to all the winners and hope that the spark that MI Junior has lit gives them the motivation to continue the sport and bring laurels to the nation.” Jhulan said while speaking on the occasion.
In the finals of the Mumbai leg of the MI Junior inter-school cricket tournament played on Tuesday, Sharadashram Vidyamandir (Dadar), SVIS (Borivali) and Anjuman Islam (CST) won the titles in the U15 Girls, U14 Boys and U16 Boys categories respectively.
The finals of the U15 Girls event as played at Wankhede Stadium, and the U14 and -16 Boys at Police Gymkhana and Islam Gymkhana, respectively.
Sharadashram Vidyamandir (Dadar), (U-15 Girls), SVIS (Borivali) (U-14 Boys) and Anjuman Islam (CST) (U-16 Boys) lifted the trophy after a tightly contested tournament, which was spread over two months.
Jhulan Goswami, J. Arunkumar, Assistant Batting Coach, Mumbai Indians along with MCA officials felicitated the winners, runner-ups and individual honours at the season-ending award ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium.
The third edition of the MI Junior Interschool cricket tournament in Mumbai was played across iconic grounds and had the participation of over 170 teams with close to 2700 boys and girls participating across three age groups Boys U14, Girls U15 and Boys U16.
Arunkumar said, “Mumbai Indians have always focused on providing youth players with an opportunity to showcase their talent, and MI Junior is one of the best to help in their development and encourage their love for the sport. As a coach, to see so many players and coaches develop through the season by competing under pressure, learning and observing, is surely a great opportunity and a platform for everyone involved. Congratulations to all the participants and special congrats to the winners and I hope to see more children and schools participate in the next season.”
The winning teams are now all set to train and gain invaluable knowledge under the guidance of a member of the Mumbai Indians coaching team.
Notably, the tournament had about 16 women scorers who were accredited with the cricket associations, officiating across the matches in Mumbai, apart from that around 63 female Physio were on the ground to look after the players and guide them through the injuries.
MI Junior is an initiative conceptualised by Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani, who has been the flag bearer of promoting sports as part of the educational curriculum and has been spearheading various grassroots sports initiatives through Reliance Foundation including ESA (Education and Sports for All).
–IANS
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