Sanmar And Cricket: Passionate Patronage For Over Four Decades
The Sanmar Group has been a serious champion of sport, one of the few Indian corporate houses to offer sustained patronage. The Group has supported cricket unstintingly for over four decades. The avid interest shown by the founders – KS Narayanan, Chairman Emeritus, N Sankar, Chairman, N Kumar, Vice Chairman, and Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman, have played a major role in the success of the two cricket teams managed by The Sanmar Group – Jolly Rovers and Alwarpet Cricket Club.
The IIT-Sanmar cricket ground is a world class-playing venue, located in the heart of the Chennai city. Declared open by the legendary Neil Harvey in 1998, the ground maintains a classical touch much like the stylish Aussie southpaw who enthralled many with his panache.
The Indian cricket team has a close connection with the IIT-Sanmar cricket venue. Many cricket icons have trained at the IIT-Sanmar ground. Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan had their first camp here before their maiden tour to Kenya. Harbhajan Singh attended trials to join Chemplast in 1997. L Balaji, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath and R Ashwin blossomed as cricketers while turning out for Alwarpet Cricket Club. Even the likes of Richard Hadlee have commented on the pitches and pavilion at the ground and their being of a far superior quality. The IIT Sanmar cricket ground had the unique opportunity to host the Indian team during their 2011 World Cup for practices.
Jolly Rovers and Alwarpet Cricket Club had several well-known players on their rolls over the years, who have donned State and National colours. The list includes VB Chandrasekar, S Venkataraghavan, L Sivaramakrishnan, T A Sekhar, Harbhajan Singh, Harvinder Singh, Anil Kumble, Robin Singh, S Ramesh, Sujith Somasundar, Hemang Badani, Tinu Yohanan, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Karthik, L Balaji, S Badrinath, M Vijay, R Ashwin, Dinesh Mongia, and Piyush Chawla among several others.
In Chennai, under the current management, Jolly Rovers has won the TNCA Senior League Trophy 16 times, apart from the same players enabling Chemplast to win different trophies as a corporate team. The teams have won major all India cricket competitions like the Ariem Trophy, Moin-Ud-Dowla Cup, the KSCA Trophy, Canara Bank Centenary Cup, MCA Inter Corporate Cup and the CCFS Calcutta T20 cup. These victories are a result of focused effort, strategic preparation and absolute cohesion among the players.
Ajay Kudva, the senior most member of the team, credits these victories to professionalism prevailing in the team. “The management has provided not only top facilities at the IIT-Chemplast Sanmar ground, but also a fiercely competitive atmosphere, where only performance counts” and Bharath Reddy, former Test cricketer who manages the IIT-Sanmar ground and the Sanmar sponsored cricket teams insists “on our playing good cricket, with professional pride, assuring us that success will automatically follow”.
Over the years, many young cricketers have benefited from Sanmar’s sponsorships. They not only get to play at the IIT–Sanmar cricket ground, a world class facility, but also find in the Group a strong catalyst in their efforts to gain national and international recognition.
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