Uttarakhand Flood Relief Fundraiser Cricket Tournament Fetches $15000

HOUSTON: Houston chapter of Sewa International and Gujarati Samaj of Houston successfully staged a fundraiser cricket tournament for Uttarakhand Flood Relief and raised approx. $15,000. Thanks to the generous help from cricket aficionados of Greater Houston area.  In probably one of the worst disasters in the recent past in India, the entire Uttarakhand was hit badly by incessant rains, landslides and floods in June, 2013. Various estimates have put the loss of life to be more than 10,000. Over 70,000 people were left homeless. Sewa volunteers have been helping with rehabilitation immediately after the tragedy and have pledged to rebuild the state.

About the “De Ghuma Ke Cricket” Tournament

Ricardo Powell, the swashbuckling West Indies middle order batsmen, made a special appearance and interacted with players and the organizers. He commended the efforts put together by the organizers for raising awareness about this noble cause.

Speaking about his experience in organizing this event, Achalesh Amar said “The tournament exemplified the Sewa spirit of “Service Above Self” and helped raise awareness about the Sewa opportunities in Houston area. It helped foster a bond among the teams and gave boost to the desire of associating with community issues. The tremendous help provided in all aspects of staging this tournament by Gujarati Samaj, led by Ajit Patel, was instrumental in our exceeding the targeted goals and we look forward to such associations in future as well. Noted entrepreneur Sanjay Aggarwal also pitched in with his efforts to make this tournament a great success. ”

• 21 teams competed over two weekends (Oct 25, Oct 26 and then Nov 2 at the Gujarati Samaj cricket grounds – Sardar Patel park in Richmond) for the coveted title of “De Ghuma Ke” champions. HICC 1, led by Mohammed Majid, lifted the trophy after sweeping aside all their opponents in the four games they played.

• Kishan (HICC1) was chosen man of the match for the finals but Krishna (Titans) walked away with the man of the series award for his all round performance throughout the series.

• Ram Bhattad (Star Warriors) got the award for taking the maximum wickets in a game whereas Suresh (Cognizant) was rewarded with the maximum wickets for the tournament award.

• Kannan (Titans) was adjudged the best fielder, and Ashok (Gayatri Shakha) got the best batsman award.

• Keyur (HICC1) hit the maximum number of fours in the tournament while Forum Patel (HICC 2) hit the maximum number of sixes.

• These teams participated in the tournament:

1) Star Warriors (Anand Bhat tad)

2) Telfair Tigers (Arun TV)

3) Pearland Hawks (Vtesh/ Kumaran)

4) Gayatri Shakha (Narinder  Gupta)

5) DCC (Sanjay Aggarwal / Sivaram)

6)  CSK (Venkat)

7)  Desi Champs (Kunal Deshmukh)

8)  Desiz Blasters (Ritesh Seal)

9)  Indians (Naresh Kaler)   10)  Titans (Jeffery Valiveti)

11)  Chak De (Ankur Saxena)   12)  HICC 1 (Majid / Kuldeep           Patel)

13)  HICC 2 (Vasant Patel)   14)  Houston Tigers (Raj Nair)

15)  Trinity Cricket Club (Bijoh Benjamin)

16) Sewa International    (Kaushik Chatterjee)

17) Cognizant (Kamlesh Khan delwal)

18) Houston Rattlers (Aswin / Mahesh)

19)  Med Center Lions (Mohan Joshi / Sreejesh Shanker)

20)  IMCC (Sam Alexander)   21)  Loose Cannons (Achalesh)

About Sewa International USA: 

Sewa International USA is a Hindu faith based nonprofit charity registered under the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). Mission of Sewa is to serve humanity in distress, aid local communities, and promote volunteerism.