17th Manav Rachna Corporate Cricket Challenge Begins; 24 Corporates competing for the Grand Trophy

Delhi/Ncr, January 6, 2024: The 17th edition of the Manav Rachna Corporate Cricket Challenge 2024 commenced today with great enthusiasm on the sprawling cricket ground of Manav Rachna Campus. Twenty-four leading corporate teams from Delhi-NCR are participating this year to prove their mettle in cricket and take the grand trophy home.The tournament was inaugurated by President, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI) along with Vice President, MREI in the presence of Director Sports, MREI; Vice Chancellor, MRU, Director General, MREI and other key functionaries from Manav Rachna. Dr. Prabal Roy from Accord Hospital also attended the inaugural along with representatives from 24 participating teams.The Cup, instituted in the memory of our Founder Visionary Dr. O P Bhalla, follows the belief that a sport inculcates life-long skills, camaraderie, and bonding among players.

Dr. Prashant Bhalla said, “Sports has always been close to our hearts at Manav Rachna and we are delighted to host corporate teams from Delhi-NCR giving us an opportunity to bridge the gap between industry and academics in sports as well. This Corporate Cricket Challenge Cup holds the ethos of Manav Rachna and is a part of the legacy of our Founder Visionary Dr. OP Bhalla in making Sports an integral part of academics.”

While inaugurating the tournament, Dr. Amit Bhalla congratulated the participating teams. He shared, “We wait for this moment when we are on the ground playing and promoting sports at the corporate level. Having started with just 8 teams, we now have participation from 24 teams taking our expectations a notch higher for the editions to come.”

The tournament’s first match was played between Sony India and Accord Hospital. Sony India won the toss and elected to bat first. Accord Hospital won the match by scoring 114 runs for 3 wickets in 8.5 overs. Mr. Ankit Rana from Accord Hospital was declared the ‘Man of the Match’ The Sony India team scored 108 runs for 10 wickets in 16.1 overs.

Shri Sarkar Talwar, Director Sports, MREI highlighted the importance of this tournament saying, “the energy that we feel on this ground on these winter mornings is what keeps us going and the enthusiasm with which these teams play represent the sanctity with which these matches are conducted at Manav Rachna every year.”

In 2024, 24 leading corporate teams from Delhi-NCR will be competing for the cup viz. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (Gurgaon), JCB India Ltd (Ballabgarh), Tata Consultancy Service (Noida), Hero Motocorp India Ltd (Gurgaon), Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Ltd (Gurgaon), Wave Infratech (Noida), SEC – RJMT Engineering (Faridabad), Sarvodaya Hospital (Faridabad), Knorr-Bremse (Palwal), Action Construction Equipment Ltd (Faridabad), Accord Hospital (Greater Faridabad), Media XI (Delhi), Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (Faridabad), NHAI (Delhi), Aaj Tak (Delhi), Indian Oil R&D (Faridabad), Sony India Ltd (Delhi), Jagran Group (Noida), BEN & GAWS (Delhi), KPMG (Gurugram), Manitou Equipment India Ltd. (Noida), Pinelab Pvt. Ltd. (Gurugram), REPL Group (New Delhi) and Suzuki Motorcycle (Gurugram).

In the 17th Manav Rachna Corporate Cricket Challenge 2024, a total of 47 matches will be played. The teams have been divided into groups wherein the first phase, league matches, shall be played, followed by knock-out matches, Quarter Final, Semi-final, and Finale match.