UP IAS Week ends; CM Akhilesh Yadav hits 11 boundaries and a six in a T-20 match with IAS officers!

CM and Chief Secretary in 2015 IAS Week (file photo)

LET'S not call it a “fixed” match by the IAS officers of Uttar Pradesh, but suspicions remain. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s team defeated the UP IAS Officers Association XI in a T-20 match in Lucknow on Sunday, with Yadav scoring 65 run including 11 boundaries and a six, and yes, the award of the day — The Man of the Match. Everyone knows UP chief minister’s cricketing ability, but the way he was batting led to suspicion that either the bowlers of the IAS team were…

below average or at least some of them intentionally allowed the young CM to enjoy the moment and hit 11 fours and a six. The UP team chased 126 runs, one run short of the target to win the match. Stamps and registration minister of the state Raghuraj Pratap Singh scored 22 runs.

The IAS XI included chief secretary and 1978 batch IAS Alok Ranjan (captain), principal secretary and 1988 batch IAS Navneet Sehgal, 1990 batch IAS Sudhir Bobde, 1994 batch IAS Parthsarthi Sensharma, 1995 batch IAS Bhuvnesh Kumar, 1998 batch IAS Anil Kumar-III, 2000 batch IAS Anurag Yadav, 2002 batch IAS Pankaj Kumar, 2009 batch IAS Vijay Kiran Anand, 2013 batch IAS Ravindra Kumar Mander and Raj Kamal Yadav.

From the IAS XI side, Anil Kumar-III was declared as the best batsman. Ravindra Kumar was adjudged the best bowler from the IAS side whereas Raj Kamal Yadav was made the best fielder.

The match was organized as a part of the UP IAS Week. The T-20 match was organized in the concluding day of the IAS Week. 

Speaker of the Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey who distributed the trophy to the winning team, commented how this friendly cricket match between the political executive and bureaucrats help strengthening the camaraderie. This annual cricket match has been organized as a part of the IAS Week since 2013 at the insistence of chief minister Yada himself. 

Wives of the bureaucrats as well as chief minister’s wife Dimple Yadav were seen among the cheering crowd.  

The IAS Week also witnessed photography and flower arrangement competitions, children’s quiz, spouse meet, lunches and dinners. The annual general body meeting of the Association took place on Saturday morning.