VARANASI: Commentary in Sanskrit “Ete krikidah chatrah dandchalanartham aagamishyanti (student is arriving at the batting crease)”. “Ete chatrah kanduk kridanartham aagamishyanti (another comes out to bowl) ... Chaturthanka labdah (four runs scored)” blare from loudspeakers on a playground at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University (SSU) campus. On approaching closer, one can see young lads clad in vibrant yellow and saffron ‘ganvesh’ (traditional Indian dhoti and kurta).
The spectators got a flavour of the novel form of cricket, when dhoti kurta-clad ‘batuk’ (
Vedic
students) and Sanskrit scholars arrived at the
cricket
pitch. The running commentary was in Sanskrit.
Day-long district level intercollegiate cricket matches for Sanskrit colleges, conceptualized by
Shastrarth Mahavidyalaya
affiliated to SSU, were organized on Friday to commemorate its 73rd foundation day observed on Basant Panchami. There were four teams and three matches. It is an annual feature here to tell the people that Sanskrit is not merely literary but has much more to it.
Kashi Vidya Mandir Sanskrit Degree College (KVMSDC), International Chandramauli Charitable Trust (ICCT) and Ranbir Sanskrit College (RSC) besides Shastrarth Mahavidyalaya (SM) were shortlisted for semi-finals and final. The eight-over final was played between KVMSDC and SM. The former team set a target of 55 runs and after giving a tough fight, SM lost to KVMSDC by three wickets.
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