Jain University College and Presidency College participated in the finals of the Bangalore city qualifiers of Red Bull Campus Cricket 2018 at the Aditya Global Sports Ground, Bangalore. Jain University College won the final match against Presidency College by 70 runs in the T20 format of the game, to become the Bangalore city champions. Jain University College won the toss and chose to bat first. Shrijith received the Man of the Match award for scoring 73 runs of just 40 balls.
Coming off a spectacular season in 2017, Red Bull Campus Cricket returns to bowl over budding cricketers in the country. Taking the competition up one more notch, the global T20 college cricket tournament has added two new cities (Mysore & Raipur) to its roster and will witness the highest participation ever over 250 plus colleges across 29 cities.
Taking place from mid-March, the Red Bull Campus Cricket city qualifiers took place simultaneously across 29 cities – Hyderabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Vizag, Chennai, Mysore, and Coimbatore.
Jain University College scored 175-7 in 20 overs* Presidency College 105-10 in 18.4 overs (Twenty20)
Jain University College will now represent Bangalore and face off against six other cities in the Regional/zonal finals in April & May. The top two teams from each zone will then compete in the National finals, where the teams will play in the knockout rounds of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals respectively. The National winner will then represent India in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Series Championship 2018. Past winners from India that have gone on to represent the country at the World Championships are Rizvi College, Mumbai; DAV College, Chandigarh; Swami Shraddhanand College, Delhi; and MMC College, Pune.
Well-known Indian cricketers KL Rahul and Karun Nair have been associated with Red Bull Campus Cricket. Shradul Thakur, Manan Vohra, Siddhesh Lad, Himanshu Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anukul Roy, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ricky Bhui are other well-known faces who played RBCC Cricket in the past and emerging stars in the Indian Cricket scene.
Anukul Roy in India’s Playing XI was the highest wicket taker and made a huge impact in the 2018 U19 cricket World Cup. He played RBCC National Finals last year, playing for Marwari College, Ranchi. Another Red Bull Campus Cricket alumnus Himanshu Rana also played for India at the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
“Red Bull Campus Cricket is very close to my heart and something I will remember till the end of time. I recall how an injury bogged me down in my younger days before the experience of playing in the Red Bull Campus Cricket T20 tourney, which helped me make a comeback to the Ranji Trophy team. Subsequently, I got picked for IPL outfit Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is where I revived my college cricket and found my lost confidence. And through this tournament I have found my way up.” said Bangalore based, Kannaur Lokesh Rahul, the top scorer in the Red Bull Campus Cricket Tournament’s India leg in 2013.
In his message to the young participants of the Red Bull Campus Cricket 2018, Red Bull Athlete & currently Kings XI Punjab opener KL Rahul said, “Go out there and play some tough cricket. There is a spirit of the game you want to follow, no matter whatever challenge you come up against. So perform to the best of your ability and play good cricket. Red Bull Campus Cricket gives young cricketers a stage to express themselves, and provides a fair idea of the profession as they go higher up”
