Sarkari cricket is T-15, not T-20; wooden bat is allowed, but only tennis ball

President of India trying a good shot (File Photo)

OUTSIDE the corridors, the ministry of civil aviation is being pitted against the ministry of railways. And the ministry of mines is getting ready to take on none other than the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)! Relax, it's just a game of cricket, to be played among Central ministries, that too by using tennis ball. The inter-ministerial tennis ball cricket tournament 2015-16 is beginning on...
October 19, and the inaugural match will be played between the ministry of civil aviation and the ministry of railways. And on the next day, the ministry of mines will have a more "formidable" opponent-- the PMO!
Organized by Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board, which comes under the DoPT, the tournament will be held on league-cum-knock out basis. There will be four groups, and interestingly, Narendra Modi’s PMO and Rajnath Singh’s ministry of home affairs (MHA), are in the same group. In another match, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) will play a game against the ministry of defence, and agriculture ministry is pitted against that of steel.
Significantly, the format of the game is neither one-day nor T-20. The sarkari version of cricket is that of T-15, meaning 15 overs of ball for either side. Two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the quarter finals.
The rules of the game have made it clear that "no request for rescheduling/postponement of matches will be entertained". Is there a possibility that some ministries may fail to gather enough number of players on the D-Day? Maybe yes. “Walk over will be awarded against the team (minimum of 8 players) which fails to report on the ground maximum of 10 minutes after the scheduled start of the play”, another rule says.