On Aug 15, a new high for cricket

MUMBAI: Two Indian cricket legends, who at one time were at the peak of international cricket, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, could be path-breakers in cricket becoming popular in Switzerland.
On Independence Day this year, a five-over match will be played at the highest peak in Europe, Jungraujoch, between an Indian all-star side and an all-star team from England.The match billed as ���Top of Europe���, will be the first one to be ever played in snow. Cricketers have played on ice in the Alps before.
Swiss International Airlines, Jungfraubahnen (Swiss railway) and Beyond Boundaries, an Indian sports tourism company, have got together to take cricket to greater heights, literally and figuratively.
Jean-Philippe Benoit, general manager, Swiss, said, ������At a Swiss food festival at the CCI in March, Gavaskar was with us and the conversation turned to cricket in snow. The idea germinated there.������
As for Kapil Dev, he has been roped in by Jaideep Sinh Parmar of Beyond Boundaries and will lead the Indian side which will have his 1983 World Cup teammates like Syed Kirmani, Sandeep Patil and Roger Binny, besides Anshuman Gaekwad and Ajay Jadeja. Asked if he had played cricket in snow, Kapil said, ������I haven���t even walked on ice. But I am excited to see how they are going to promote cricket in Switzerland, If someone is doing something new then why not?������ Said Patil, ������At my age, cricket in snow is the best option.������
The England side will have former Windies skipper Alvin Kallicharran, Chris Broad (current ICC match ref), ex-England spinner John Emburey, Geoff Howarth (former Kiwi skipper) and Collis King (hero of the West Indies 1979 World Cup triumph).
The match will be a five-over affair on a matting pitch mounted on a wooden platform which in turn will be on a compacted snow surface. The area will be a 30-yard circle and the ball will be like a tennis ball but twice its normal weight and red-coloured. The umpires will be former India skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and keeper Farokh Engineer.
Benoit said, ������Every type of sport has been played in Switzerland. Cricket was the missing link and we hope to add that link.������ He informed that tennis ace Roger Federer was the brand ambassador for their airlines and they had sponsored sports locally, especially the ones on ice.