Guru Nanak College all set to host 7th Pavit Singh Nayar Memorial Intercollegiate T20

India’s most exciting inter-collegiate T20 cricket tournament is back. The 7th edition of the Pavit Singh Nayar Memorial Intercollegiate T20, an All-India Intercollegiate Cricket Tournament for Men & Women 2021 will be held from March 8-12 at the cricket grounds of the Guru Nanak College at Velachery in Chennai.

There are attractive prizes in the tournament. The winner teams will get INR 20,000, while runners up take home INR 10,000. There are individual prizes for each match with Man of the Match and Woman of the Match, while the finals will have prizes for Best Batsman, Best Bowler as well as Best All Rounder, Best Fielder, Best Wicket Keeper as well as Best Cricketer of the tournament. In addition, the winner of the Man of Series award will get a Hero Passion Pro i3s motorcycle worth over INR 80,000 and the Woman of the Series will get a Hero Pleasure+ worth about INR 65,000.

Cricket has been an integral part of the Guru Nanak College which has produced dozens of very renowned and good cricketers who have gone on to represent not just the state of Tamil Nadu in national level tournaments, but the college alumni have and are currently part of the official Indian cricket team. “Our association with cricket and sports goes long back. Guru Nanak College is known across India for its cricketing facilities, Cricketers, be it for national or state level teams as well as professional tournaments. Many players who have represented India and or play for India have visited the Guru Nanak College because of the infrastructure facilities that we offer. Most of the players who have represented Tamil Nadu or other teams in the Ranji Trophy have been our students. We also have a good representation of our alumni in the Tamil Nadu Premier League teams as well as the Indian Premier League. We are proud to say that several of our alumni like Ravichandran Ashwin have been playing for India for many years. We are equally proud that many of our alumni have also figured in the Indian national women’s cricket teams,” Manjit Singh Nayar, General Secretary of the Guru Nanak Educational Society, of which the Guru Nanak College is a part, tells Media India Group.

The college authorities go on to say that the Pavit Singh Nayar Memorial Intercollegiate T20 cricket tournament was introduced to ensure that the talented students, of the Guru Nanak College as well as other colleges from across the country get a chance to showcase their talent and gain opportunities for moving up in the sport.

“So, keeping the tradition alive, we thought that we have large scope for the youth to participate in cricket and display their skills and that is why we introduced this tournament in 2014. Initially, we started at the city level with participation of 12 teams from Chennai and then we extended it to the State level, with around 18 teams. In the 4th year we threw open the tournament for women students too. Six teams of women participated in the 1st year itself. And now we have gone to the national level. Even last year we had good participation. More than 22 teams participated. This year despite the various challenges, there are 28 teams in all,” says Manjit Singh Nayar.

The college officials say that they are very excited to bring this tournament back to the students of the entire country. “This is a very unique tournament in the nation and best among the college tournaments in India. By participating in the tournament, students from across the entire country get a wonderful opportunity and this is a special tournament for us this year as we are celebrating our Golden Jubilee in the year 2021. The prize monies in the tournament are also attractive and the tournament is also equivalent to the Tamil Nadu Premier League and Indian Premier League,” Dr M G Ragunathan, Principal of the Guru Nanak College, tells Media India Group.

Keeping in mind the current Covid-19 pandemic, the college authorities have taken all the precautions regarding safety and hygiene during the tournament to ensure the safety and health of all the participating team members, officials of the tournament as well as the spectators. “We have taken all precautionary measures such as social distancing, all players have been given separate rooms exactly as per the standards followed by the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and we are following the same guidelines and SOPs as outlined by the UGC and the BCCI for organising the tournament,” says Dr Ragunathan.

The organisers also thank Hero Motors for its unflinching support over the years. Right from the first edition of the memorial tournament, Hero Motors has been the principal sponsor of the tournament. “Hero Motor Corp has been partnering in the tournament from the Day 1. They have been encouraging the youth towards this sport. For the past several years, they have been giving their motorcycles and scooters as the prize for Men and Women respectively,” says Manjit Singh Nayar.

About Guru Nanak College

Pro Bono Publico is the motto of the college. It is the translation of the last sentence of the Sikh prayer “SarbatKaBhalla”, which means “For the benefit of all”. The Guru Nanak College was established in the year 1971 as a Unit of Guru Nanak Educational Society to mark the 500th birthday of the great Shri Guru Nanak Devji, founder of the Sikh Religion. The objective of the college is to spread the ideals of universal brotherhood, the oneness of God, communal harmony and welfare to all communities. The college provides a quiet and ideal setting amidst natural surroundings. It is located on the Velachery-Tambaram Road within a verdant 20-acre campus gifted by the Government of TamilNadu for the development of an Arts & Science College. The institution admits students as per the government norms. To encourage gender equality in higher education, 30% of the total strength ineach course is reserved for women students. Admission is open to trans-genders also. The College is a full-fledged Undergraduate, postgraduate and research institution.  It is recognized by the UGC, AICTE and the Govt. of Tamil Nadu. The College is ranked among the Top 10 colleges in Chennai. It is autonomous and affiliated to the University of Madras.