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Association at a glance :
The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association was formed with the
objective of augmentation of game of Cricket in the state of
Himachal, in the year 1960. However the Association was granted
affiliation by the BCCI at a meeting held on 29th Sept 1984 at
Taj Palace, New Delhi. Till the year 2000 the Association was
considered to be minnows of Indian Cricket, it was only in July
2000 that the present set up headed by Mr. Anurag Thakur took
over the reins of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA)
and the Association caught the eye of many. The new Millennium
year (2000) came with new hopes and new dreams. The dawn of year
2000 suddenly threw up a hope, a sense of renewed vitality to
catch up with the best in the North zone at least, if not in the
entire country. A new body under young and dynamic President was
installed in the office and all of a sudden we witness a flurry
of activity all around us ……. Sky can be the limit for Himachal
Cricket under his stewardship”. Mr. Anurag Singh Thakur elected
as the fourth President of the HPCA on 2nd July 2000. Soon after
he took over the association he expressed his concerns as to
what still ailed the Himachal cricket. He expressed, “Why were
Himachal players even after 15 years of affiliation to the BCCI
regarded as babes in the wood and were treated with scant
respect in the domestic circle. He realized that problems were
manifold with the chief problem being lack of exposure,
facilities, grounds and infrastructure.” The foremost agenda of
the newly formed HPCA was to construct its own stadium having
best of facilities, it was a daunting task but the young
President accepted the challenge and the results can be seen.
Apart from lack of infrastructure in the state the plight of
players was also pathetic as such the association needed a
paradigm shift in approach.
The comparative briefs enunciated in the succeeding paragraphs
will clearly show you the trends and momentum with which HPCA
has accelerated, particularly in the last nine and a half years.
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Financial growth :
The under mentioned graph will clearly show you the trends of
financial growth of HPCA during the period 1st April 2000 to
31st Dec 2009:
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Valuation of
assets: :
The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association has created assets
worth Rupees 750 million during the period 2000-10 (up to Dec
2009) the trends of growth are depicted below:
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Defining Moments of HPCA:
17 YEARS after Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association was granted
affiliation by the BCCI and just over two and a half years of
present associations tenure the Government of Himachal Pradesh
allotted a tract of land measuring about 16 acres to the
association on 19th of March 2002 at a glittering function
attended by thousands Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, the then Chief
Minister of Himachal Pradesh, officially handed over the lease
papers to Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. The land nestles
in the laps of mighty and majestic Dhauladhar Mountain ranges at
a height of about 4000 feet in Dharamshala, the abode of his
holiness Dalai Lama.
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Facilities :
The Stadium constructed at a cost of about 60 crore provides all
the modern day facilities prevalent in other International
venues across the world. It has a seating capacity of about
25000 spectators and shall boast of the state of art, separate
indoor and outdoor practice areas, spacious dressing rooms with
requisite facilities, latest irrigation facilities, well
equipped gymnasium, separate press gallery, TV & Radio
Commentators Boxes, club house, recreational centre, post match
conference hall, and indeed one of the most picturesque views in
the world.
In addition to Dharamshala Cricket Stadium Himachal Pradesh
Cricket Association has also constructed two more cricket
stadiums viz at Nadaun and Bilaspur at an estimated cost of 5
crore.
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Brief History of Matches hosted :
The first International side that visited and played in
Dharamshala Stadium was Pakistan. The Pakistani national side,
lead by the legendary Inzamam Ul Haq, played a three day game
against Board President XI (BCCI) from 3rd to 5th of March 2005
» The Inaugural Prestigious Mohd. Nissar Trophy was also hosted
here in Sept 2006. The Trophy was started by BCCI and PCB from
the year 2006, in which the national champions of both the
countries played each other on reciprocal basis.
» The Australian Youth (U-19s) side that toured India in Sept
2005 played two one day matches against India (U-19s) at
Dharamshala
» It was one of the venues for Inaugural Corporate Cup, started
by BCCI from the year 2009.
In the year 2007-08 South Africa A Played a three day game
against India
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Chronology of Events :
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In the year 2000-01 HPCA started its first U-16 residential
Cricket Academy for boys at Una.
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In the year 2001-02 HPCA’s Ranji Team qualified for the
Elite Group.
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In the year 2002-03 the Construction work of Dharamshala
Cricket Stadium was started.
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In the year 2004-05 HPCA successfully organized Duleep
Trophy Matches at Dharamshala.
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In the year 2005-06 Rishi Dhawan played a mammoth knock of
340 runs against Railways in U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy. In the
same year and age group Ravi Kant was selected for U-19
National Camp.
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In the year 2006-07 HP Ranji Team won the Ranji Trophy Plate
Group
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In the year 2006-07 HP Ranji Team won the Ranji Trophy Plate
Group
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In the same year HPCA’s Cooch Behar & Vijay merchant team’s
earned third spot in the national Championships (plate
Group). As such 2006-07 can be considered as the golden year
of HPCA’s cricket.
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In the year 2007-08 Ajay Rana (U-17, age group) was declared
as Junior Cricketer of the year, by the BCCI. In the same
year Rishi Dhawan (U-19, age group) was declared Ceat
Cricketer of the year
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In the year 2008-09 Sapna Ranwhawa was selected to represent
India C in the Challenger Trophy (Women)
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In the Year 2009-10 Vikramjeet Singh Malik became the first
Himachali Player to play an IPL game. In the same year Sapna
Randhawa was selected for the ICC Women World Cup Camp.
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In its promise to augment the game of Cricket throughout the
state HPCA organized the biggest T-20 Tournament of the
country titled “J.P.T-20 Mahasangram” in which 1017 clubs
participated and the matches were played at 60 centres. This
was the biggest club Tournament of the Country, the fact has
also been accepted and will be in Limca book of records. The
final of the said tournament was played under lights and was
the first match to be played under lights at Dharamshala.
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In the current year 2010-11 three HPCA players have been
selected for IPL season three viz. Paras Dogra, Vikramjeet
Malik & Sarandeep Singh.
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The happiest moment of HPCA, after its affiliation, came
when it was cleared as one of the venues for IPL Matches in
the year 2009 but, unfortunately the tournament was shifted
to South Africa. This year we are over whelmed to host two
IPL matches at Dharamshala and we look forward to host more
matches in Dharamshala.
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Ongoing Projects :
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The most ambitious project of HPCA is construction of exotic
residential resort “The Pavilion” at Dharamshala. The resort
would extend best of facilities for players and officials.
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HPCA probably became the first state in the year 2009 to run
a free of cost residential academy for Women Cricketers. In
all HPCA is running three Cricket Academies (two for boys &
one for girls).
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Future Plans :
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The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association with the help of
the Government of Himachal Pradesh is committed to construct
Cricket Stadiums having facilities for other games as well
at all the Districts. So that its aim of augmentation of the
Game of Cricket is fulfilled.
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HPCA also wants to produce Cricketers who can represent our
Country and make us proud
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on behalf of the entire Association want to convey our
heartfelt gratitude to all those who stood by us and
motivated us to work for a common cause. The organizing of
IPL Matches in HPCA Cricket Stadium Dharamshala is victory
of all those Cricket loving people who had faith in us and
we assure you that this is just the beginning and the best
is yet to come.
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