IIAPL – Season 7 (Indian Institute of Architects Premier League) 2018 Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
I participated in this
event IIAPL Season 7 that took place in Ahmedabad Gujarat from 03 to
07 January 2018. Thought I would share my experience of the same.
It was a great event
and lots of memories which I took back from it. At first I would like to record
my appreciation to IIA national Sports committee chairman Ar. Jitendra Mehta
Ji. Secondly, I think, it was the effort of Gujarat chapter and in particular Ahmedabad
centre that helped in the event becoming a grand success. Big thanks to them
for providing us with a wonderful experience both on and off the pitch.
This time it was season
7 and a first time experience for me in participating in the national level Architects
sports meet. This year two teams participated from Tamil Nadu in the sport of
cricket, The Tamil Kaalais and The Tamil Tigers. Till last year only one team
participated from our state, but this year the second team was formed and it
entered the fray at the national event. Thanks again to IIA headquarters and
sports committee in allowing a second team from our part of the country. This
team, the Tamil Tigers was formed and captained by Ar. Jeya Pandian. It was his persuasion and hard work that
helped us to form the new team from Tamil Nadu. Also instrumental was our team
mate Ar. Srinivasan Mani who ably helped our captain in co-ordinating a lot of
stuff.
Our team in a huddle
A very well organized
Event:
I should accept here
the fact it was one of the best organized events of IIA. All details were taken
care off to the highest level of perfection. Right form starting of the
registration, to the last day of the event everything was very well planned and
personally I did not see any drawback throughout.
A wonderful stay at
Club O7:
Club O7, the place of
our stay at Ahmedabad was wonderful. Rooms were of highest quality. The
facility had all types of amenities like sports areas, swimming pools,
billiards, party lawns, Amphitheatre etc. These kinds of facilities, all in one
place, helped in making the stay even more interesting as we could use all the
facilities and keep ourselves engaged. Not only did this helped to keep
ourselves engaged, but also helped us in witnessing all other sports conducted in
the due course of IIAPL 2018. The club had different types of party/event areas
and each day programs were conducted in different venues. The only small
drawback of the club, which I felt, was its off location from the main city. It
took at least an hour to reach the main city.
Different programs
every evening:
Inauguration ceremony
took place on Jan 3rd evening where all teams were asked to come in
their team jersey. It took place in the amphitheatre within the Club. The star
attraction of this evening were renowned architect B V Doshi and IPL umpire
Amiesh Sahiba. A small speech by B V Doshi sir related architects and their
passion in sports to environment and sustainability. He asked if this energy
shown in cricket field will be converted to save environment. Ar. C. R. Raju
was the guest of honour for the event. The team parade took place with local
musicians in traditional attire leading each team around the amphitheatre. Captains
assembled on stage led by specially abled children from a social organization.
Each team had a flag with them which their captains carried. This particular
event reminded me of my college days NASA convention where we assembled with
our flags and drums.
Captains lined up with team flags
Teams assembled in Amphitheater
Ar. C R Raju honoring Ar. B V Doshi
Next (Jan 4th and
5th) evening happened on a terrace on the third floor. This was
again a beautiful area to assemble in the evening. The dress code for this
program was traditional attire. Most of the teams had their own traditional
attire and it was treat to watch everyone dressed in their traditions.
Befitting this evening with tradition was the lecture by Ar. Vasavada, who
presented the work done on Amdavad World Heritage city and the efforts put
behind achieving the status from UNESCO. The 5th evening all teams
had to come dressed in smart casuals and this evening there was live music
around the place. Both the evening there were sponsor presentations.
Some team members in traditional attire
The final (Jan 6th)
evening program happened in the huge lawns of the club. This event had some
Qawwali being sung and the gala prize distribution took place later. All 18
teams participating in the tournament were called to stage and all were
declared winners. This was true to the spirit of the event, as the event is not
to find a sportsman but to find true fellowship among architects community.
The CRICHEROES App:
18 teams participated
in the tournament. These teams were divided into 4 pools and matches with
respect to each pool were conducted in 4 different grounds. As this was the
case no team would have understood about what was happening in other grounds.
This was not the case in IIAPL 2018, as the organizers uploaded all the scores
in live on this cricheroes app. (http://www.cricheroes.in/tournament/2131/IIAPL-7-2018-(INDIAN-INSTITUTE-OF-ARCHITECTS-PREMIER-LEAGUE).
The buzz was around in all the teams and everyone checked scores of what was
happening in other grounds. This was indeed a very effective introduction to
this tournament.
Our matches:
I was part of the Tamil
Tigers team. Our team consisted of the following players. 1. Ar. Jeyapandian,
2. Ar. Suresh, 3. Ar. C. R. Suresh, 4. Ar. Ashok, 5. Ar. Vishnu, 6. Ar.
Shanmugham, 7. Ar. Shiva kumar, 8. Ar. Kamal Chand, 9. Srinivasan Mani, 10. R.
Azhar, 11. R. Prasanna pandian (Photographer) 12. Ar. Madhan, 13. Ar. Shadir,
14. Ar. Dhileeban and 15. Myself Muzakkir G. M. Bijli. Ours was may be the only
team of which all players became the part of the playing eleven in the two
matches we played.
Our team before and during the match
We played two matches
against the best team of the tournaments. First match was against the mighty MP
tigers. The first match was the clash of tigers from Central India and Southern
India. MP tigers posted huge target of
145 in 12 overs scored by beautiful hitting from their batsmen and assisted by
ordinary bowling and very poor fielding (we dropped atleast 4 catches and lots
of miss fielding) by our team. The chase started with a bang but we could only
reach 84 at the end of 12 overs for the loss of 6 wickets.
Second match was played
between us and Maharashtra Legions, a very strong and powerful team who went on
to become the runners up of the tournament losing only to Delhi Crafters the
ultimate champions. This match we batted first posting again a target of 84.
The strong batting line up of Maharashtra scored the required runs in less than
7 overs to make way for themselves to the semi-finals.
We finished at the
bottom of the table as the 18th team but a lot of encouragement for
us from the matches we played and the way we played our matches. We batted
really well in both the matches and it was good to know at the end of the
tournament that we were consistent with our bat. Many teams which played could
reach only scores of 50s plus and 60 plus, (even the losing semi-finalists
could only reach 70 plus scores) but we reached 80 plus in both our matches.
The negative point was our fielding not supporting our bowling. Had we done
better in that department we would have got a better net run rate and would
have done much better in overall standings. Nothing to worry but we will come back strong and roaring in the future tournaments.
The other Tamil Team
from Tamil Nadu:
The other team from
Tamil Nadu was The Tamil Kaalais (bulls). Happy for them, they finished in the
third spot in the standings. They were seasoned campaigners and had put in a
lot of efforts to reach this position. They put up a brilliant show in the
group stage. They easily beat both the teams without even losing a wicket in
chasing. They lost to the ultimate champion team Delhi Crafters in the
semi-final. Would have been even happier had they been the champions. Hope they come back strong and win the next
year’s edition.
Tamil Nadu Kaalais discussing their strategy during Innings break
A fully charged up TN Kaalais team during the inauguration ceremony
Senior player in our
team:
A last minute setback
to our team happened when one of our main bowlers could not join the team due
to his personal commitments. He was one of the 40+ age category member which we
would have otherwise fielded in the playing eleven. His absence created a void
in that category and we had to play with Ar. C. R. Suresh a very senior retired
PWD architect. He took the challenge and spiritedly fielded for our team. Thank
you Suresh Sir. The organizers felt that it was achievement in itself and
appreciated him by felicitating him for being the most senior player of the
tournament.
Ar. C R Suresh being appreciated for his enthusiasm in participating in IIAPL Season 7
The enjoyment within
the camp:
Our team lost and
finished last, but that never brought down our spirit. On the last night, after
the awards ceremony and the gala dinner the whole team assembled in one room.
This was the most unforgettable time of the whole event. We sat as a team and
had fun, fun and only fun for around 2.5 to 3 hours. This was non-stop. We were
laughing out loud. We were making fun of each other and it was the team spirit
that no one took anything to their heart. This whole time went in a light
hearted way and we forgot every other thing that happened there and just
remember that time we spent together. You won’t believe that we were LOL (laughing
out Loud) for that time non-stop just to know at the end that our mouth and stomach
were paining. I think with this session our campaign was a success as there were no hard feelings and everyone was happy.
Finals in Sardar Patel
International stadium:
I would call it an opportunity
of a lifetime to play a match in an International stadium, which the teams
reaching the finals got. The final took place in Sardar patel international
stadium in Ahmedabad between Maharashtra legions and Delhi Krafters. It was
again commendable on part of organizers to host the match at this stadium. It was befitting for the tournament to be played in a stadium that was designed by Architect Charles Correa.
Tamil Nadu team members watching the finals in progress at Sardar Patel International Stadium
Tamil Tigers team members enjoying in a different way
A big thank you:
Big thanks to the
organizers, host, my team captain, my team mates and IIA for organizing such a
wonderful and memorable event.
Hoping Rajasthan will
be bigger and better as an event and we The Tamil Tigers will perform even better.
THANK YOU for
reading!!!
Your Loving
Muzakkir G. M. Bijli
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