India News | Eight-day CRPF Cricket Cup Begins in Srinagar
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. An eight-day cricket tournament, organised by the CRPF, is underway at the iconic Sher-e-Kashmir stadium here as part of efforts of the paramilitary force to wean away local youth from drugs and lure them to sports.
Srinagar, Oct 25 (PTI) An eight-day cricket tournament, organised by the CRPF, is underway at the iconic Sher-e-Kashmir stadium here as part of efforts of the paramilitary force to wean away local youth from drugs and lure them to sports.
"This tournament is held under civic action programme of the CRPF. Around 30 teams are participating which includes teams from the CRPF as well. The matches will be held in round robin and knock out format. Teams from Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal are taking part," SDG CRPF headquarters Daljit Singh Chawdhary said here.
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"We hope that this will infuse a spirit of enthusiasm among kids. They will be conscious about their health and society and it will instill discipline. We hope this tournament will be successful."
Chanchal Parwana, deputy commandant and captain of the CRPF team, said the initiative to organise the cricket tournament was to wean away local youth from drugs.
"There are many benefits of games. As you know, drug abuse is very rampant in Kashmir. The IG has taken the initiative of weaning away youth from drugs by luring them to sports," Parwana said.
Asked about the quality of talent in Jammu and Kashmir, Parwana said there was no dearth of talent.
"There is good talent here. If you see there are three to four players in each team who have played at national level. I am myself a resident of Jammu and Kashmir and have represented the state in cricket. There is plenty of talent here, the need is to nurture that talent so that it can shine through. This tournament is also a talent hunt event," he added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)