T-10 Gully Cricket Season 2, Ab Har Koi Khelega’ which will kick start its 2nd season with call for entries from September 19th to September 22nd has signed Bollywood actress Divya Dutta as a proud team owner of “Ludhiana Gullies.”: The Ludhiana cricket team of this season. Divya will own this team and will be responsible for marketing and promoting it in India. She will be involved from grass root level in all the team aspects from call for entries to selection, grooming of the players to cheering them in the stadium etc. She will also be instrumental in promoting this social cause & garnering various corporate sponsorships for her team in this season.
“Ludhiana Gullies” had been a promising runner up team in the T-10 Gully Cricket Season 1 and had powerhouse performances delivered by all its players. Divya is extremely confident that Ludhiana will be the winner this season. This Season 2 which commences from September 19th expects 15,000 entries from Punjab and 80,000 entries collectively from 16 cities. It will be played amongst 896 players from 64 teams in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Panchkula, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ballia, Patna, Gwalior, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Surat, Nashik, Latur & Daman and will be telecasted live on DD Sports & highlights on DD 1.
The Grand Day/Night Finale will be held on 20th November 2009 in Kanpur. Reasonable Communications is aiming to disburse individual ownership for each team for all the 16 teams in Season 2. It will follow the city franchisee model; discussion is on at various levels with local celebrities and corporates who have national appeal. Sports merchandising is also an other avenue that is being explored. Various Options like outright purchase, Revenue sharing etc. are being worked out with various team owners.
T-10 Gully Cricket had its inaugural edition in Jan –Feb 2009 played amidst 32 teams in 8 cities. Rin was the presenting sponsor and Pepsi was the pouring partner for the first season. Only Non First Class Cricket players between the age group of 15-24 from Tier 2, 3 and below towns are eligible to participate in this talent hunt every season. Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh is the brand ambassador for T-10 Gully Cricket Season 2, The 1st TVC campaign featuring him is already on air to be shortly followed with a longer version. A multimedia campaign demonstrating Gully Cricket and talent hunt in all its elements will be rolled out soon on a national basis.
Anoop Wadhwa, Director Reasonable Communications Pvt Ltd said: "We are extremely happy to have Divya as a proud team owner of Ludhiana Gullies. Ludhiana has been a hot favorite right from the beginning in Season 1 and reinforced their skills as runner ups. This season we are confident that with Divya’s participation and support the team will strive for higher goals. Over the past season T-10 Gully Cricket has taken off on an unprecedented scale and has also attracted a far wider audience. This unique format aims at conducting trials in a 10 overs –a-side match situation which bring forth amazing display of cricketing skills from youngsters from different walks of life from smaller cities .
Divya Dutta, Team Owner, Ludhiana Gullies said: “I am genuinely delighted to be an owner of this wonderful team, it gives me an opportunity to connect with my root as I am primarily from Ludhiana. For decades this city and this state has always displayed extraordinary sporting skills in all disciplines, but many of these talents never got their due credit, Ludhiana Gullies being the runner up in the first season only consolidates their cricketing prowess. I will be personally involved in all the aspects of my team right from the starting and appeal to corporates, institutions and society as a whole to extend their cooperation & support for this social cause. T-10 Gully Cricket format comes across at an apt stage for the youngsters to showcase their talent. There are some extremely brilliant players who play in the gullies of our country, and in the process have sharpened their skills continuously bettering their performances. Its time that their skills are projected in front of the country and they get their deserved due.”
Ashok Jailkhani, DDG – Sports, Doordarshan added “Gully Cricket is the place where real cricketing stars are born. It’s a place which teaches one the basics of the game and where you can hone your skills to great extent. This tournament will surely give youngsters a platform to showcase their skills and help them in furthering their cricketing ambitions. We at Doordarshan are extremely delighted to showcase such raw talent in action to our discerning viewers. We got amazing feedback from our viewers in Season 1 and we are confident that with season 2 being bigger and better we would have a high viewership for this on a national basis.”
About Reasonable Communications Pvt. Ltd: Reasonable Communications Pvt Ltd. Promoted by Ashok Wadhwa and Anoop Wadhwa is an established name in the Media & Television Marketing Industry. They have marketed successful serials for reputed production houses like Balaji Telefilms, UTV Software, BR TV, Mukta Arts etc and also produced a major long-running serial Kashmakash Zindagi Ki for DD-1.They have recently launched another daily serial titled Kasak currently being aired on Doordarshan. They also run successful sites like www.criccontest.com and www.t10gullycricket.org.