Queen’s XI cricket tournament hits the ground with its third edition

Gurugram, September 27, 2019: Bringing back the excitement of cricket while encouraging and creating a niche for sports for women in India, Queen’s XI cricket tournament hits the ground with its third edition. Aiming to uplift the spirit of sports for women, the tournament is being held from 27th-29th September at Sports Maidan, Gurugram. The power behind Queen’s XI are two passionate women who have a vision to make a better tomorrow for women involved in sports. The tournament was inaugurated by Archana Gupta, Director KEI Industries Ltd. and Tripti Shinghal, CEO - KGS Advisors and Founder – Womennovator who joined hands to support a common cause of #womeninsports. The 3-Day tournament will host 8 teams including two international teams from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who will be showcasing their mettle on the Indian soil. Speaking on the initiative, Archana Gupta, Director KEI Industries Ltd. said “Feminization of cricket faces innumerable challenges and the most important one is lack of opportunities. We recognize and admire the immense potential, Indian women possess in the sporting arena, especially cricket. Through this tournament, we wish to promote and encourage women to come forward and play cricket.” Queen’s XI is a unique platform, which is devised to promote and encourage Indian women cricketers to perform at international level. The exposure for a player is huge in the Queens XI and it will not only inculcate the spirit of sports but will also identify the hidden talent in women. Furthermore, it will support them by providing monetary and non- monetary benefits to encourage their participation in sports. Highlighting the initiative, Tripti Shinghal, Chief Executive Officer- KGS Advisors and Founder said, “The common notion that prevails in our country is ‘Woh ladki hai, cricket nahi khel sakt. Cricketers like Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and Vrinda Rathi have proudly opposed this general view and have proved their mettle throughout. Queen’s XI is not just restricted to cricket but also aims to support women in sports through giving them platforms where they can play and experience real competition and also explore financial independence through making a mark in sports. I am extremely excited to witness their energetic and power-packed performance on the pitch today and it is a just a start and we won’t stop here.” Expressing his views on the same, Akshit Diviaj Gupta, Director- KEI Industries Ltd. said, “The potential of sports in our country is immense but unfortunately never been explored at full. Being a cricket-crazy nation, the interest and inclination towards the sport is intensifying at a fast pace, but at the same time, the gender imbalance continues to persist. We want to empower women to obliterate this gender-gap and emerge as sporting icons to the youth and other Indian women. This will also act as the driving force for the teams that will be a part of the tournament.” The Queen’s XI Cricket tournament today witnessed the thrill and excitement amongst the women cricketers. We got to visualize the intense battle among the teams of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Punjab, Haryana and KEI-Delhi. Match 1: In a head-on battle between Vidarbha and Rajasthan, Rajasthan Women’s Twenty 20 Cricket Association emerged victorious with 72 points. Match 2: The second match saw Maharashtra State Twenty-20 Cricket Association and Women’s Twenty-20 Cricket Association of Haryana, the Haryana team lead by Swati Rawat won the match by 8 wickets. Match 3: The cricket tournament then witnessed the teams of Punjab and Bangladesh fight it out to claim victory. Bangladesh team took the lead after the match. The first day will also have Srilanka vs KEI-Delhi, Rajasthan vs Punjab and Haryana vs KEI today.