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Created on Friday, 05 March 2021 17:36
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Last Updated on Monday, 08 March 2021 07:44
With an undying love for cricket as the game that unites DP-DCE-DTU across all batches and branches,we set off with a vision to bring our Alumni together yet again - albeit this time, with a mission to bring out the sports enthusiast in them. Covid-19 reservations playing a spoilsport to our reunion plans
“Nobody is bothered about an institution more than it’s alumni.” ” Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy
Taking a step back, to highlight how the thought was conceptualised between the DCE-DTU University Cricket Teams of a decade (2010 to 2020). The rivalries were pre-existing, the toughest part was to gather 22 fit players on the field on a given day.
Phase 1 (Setting up the Stage & the Teams)
The theme was defined to enable a series of Cricket Tournaments to enable DP-DCE-DTU alumni come together & join the fun. DCE Kings (2015 Batch & below) & DCE Lions (2010 Batch & below) were the two University teams that were formed to kick-start the tournament’s Season 1.
The format was 20 overs each side & 2 Matches to be played for deciding the Ultimate Champion. The bidding was a closed one to shortlist the players for each team with a balance between the bat & the bowl. The date was formalised a few days before the event to be 27th February, 2021 to the surprise of the DCE Kings captain who had to board a flight from Mumbai a few days before to attend the match.
Post successful quarantine period of the King’s captain, his sinister plans were in place to get the Lions out of the tournament by hook or by crook. Few highlights of the Tournament were coming together of our Seasoned Entrepreneurs with Sports Enthusiasts to add the flavour of diversity & inclusivity in the overall structure. We had Amit Bhasin (DCE’10 & Co-founder of GoMechanic) & Harsh Vikram Singh (DTU’17 Ranji player from Bihar, Rajasthan Royals IPL bowling squad for Dubai) as the star power/glamor quotient of the tournament.
2 (The Mad Cacophony of Planning ~18 hrs to the Day)
The entire tournament was already building up in our heads, the 10,000+ Whatsapp texts getting exchanged to lay claim as the rightful heirs to the cup & how to organize the event. Everyone was of the opinion that ‘Done is much Better than Planned’ & were working towards getting the 1st leg of the journey started anyhow. Only till the time, our true Thalaiva arrived in the picture - Mr. Akhil Chowdhary (DCE’84, CEO Binary Semantics), who went on to change the scale of the event.
The focus was now on giving the event it’s due respect & standardizing the experience for the DCE-DTU alumni. The transformation began with a quick call with Akhil sir, where the fundamental principle was agreed upon - no matter how much time we are left with, we will organize it the best we can. GSTRobo was brought about in absolutely no time as the Title sponsor of the Cricket Championship & along came GoMechanic & Lal10 as the Co-sponsor & Gift sponsors (in just 30 mins & a phone call each). Little did we realise then, how the scale of the game was to change/ turnaround in less than half a day.
Frantic phone calls & follow-ups between the team & the Alumni event partners (Banners & Videography) were exchanged throughout the night. The designs were finalized, few errors went unnoticed, orders for mementos were placed till late in the night as the Guest of Honours accepted the invite. In the midst of all this, the Video partner suggested that we along with the HD cameras we get the drone to record the live match. The idea stuck with us as fevistick to the passport photo we used while filling the college enrolment forms. We were racing against time to arrange for every minute thing (from a Thumbnail to the flood lights).
Phase 3 (The Awakening)
For some it was just another Saturday - a day to snooze the alarms & stay put in the bed till late, for the DCE Lions & the DCE Kings it was the match day. Everyone was at the ground at 7:30 am where tea & snacks were served to kick-start the day. For the health conscious & younger DCE Kings, fruits were arranged for. The ground was still fresh from the morning dew & the pleasant Delhi winters receding with February
The ground was filled with laughter & memories as the alumni arrived with their signature charm. 1000’s of hugs later the coin was tossed & the fate of the two teams was being decided. Lions won the toss & opted to field, Kings were to bat on a surface which had some swing & a chilly nip in the air. The teams arrived together to sing the National Anthem & pay their humble respect & gratitude to the Indian soldiers & the martyrs.
The skipper of the DCE Kings - Ramakrishna who also led the DCE team in 2012-13, decided to open the innings with Abhinav (DTU’15). The trap was set, Lions claim to fame having acquired Harsh Vikram Singh, the Ranji player was handed over the ball in the 2nd over to take down the DCE Kings.
Few moments later, the scorecard read 1.1 overs 6 runs, 1 wicket - with great fielding efforts to break the budding partnership. Contrary to the hopes & expectations of an early breakthrough, the scorecard went ballistic with Abhinav & Vaibhav holding the innings together creating a masterpiece of a scorecard - 6 overs, 49/1. Powerplay gone, the batsmen still kept on piling runs by a heap with 8 overs 87/2 . With each boundaries and maximums being belted to the quality bowling attack of Lions, the awakening call was near (the avg. economy of Lions bowlers read in excess of 9 runs) & the towering score of 201/7 was put forward by the Kings (who were at ease having put a competitive total on board by now).
By this time, DCE’96 & Alumni Council Member Mr. Arun Aggarwal had arrived to witness the match in progress. The task set was a daunting one on the board but looking at the undying spirit of the Lions few would have imagined that the match was far from being over. The 1st wicket of Lions fell cheaply similar to the Kings score, however Lions’ ray of hope was vanishing as the chill in the air, wickets after wickets fell with not much movement on the scoreboard. Just then Palash had arrived on the crease with a blitzkrieg 53 of just 16 balls he made the seemingly impossible match a winning possibility. However, Kings had ominous plans getting Palash out at the ropes & by now they knew they had the match in their grip. By this time even Arun sir had realised the outcome as he wished us the best. The match was gone, with Kings winning by a comprehensive margin of 40 runs.
Phase 4 (Lunch & 2nd Match)
The lunch was called for as the players re-assembled, munching on the Pizzas & gulping the defeat with cold-drinks, the team planned for another strategy to outplay the Kings. While Kings were upbeat & confident of their win having dominated the Lions in the first match. The match resumed at 4 pm with the toss being won by Lions again who decided to bat first this time.The story remained the same with Kings flourishing by the ball this time taking Lion's wickets a plenty. The slow run-rate did little to boost the morale of the Lions & all were hoping for Palash to come on strike again. In style did he come & in his characteristic style he sent the bowlers hunting for the balls behind the boundary ropes.
As all good things come to an end, so did Palash’s innings to help Lions muster up a decent fighting total of 143/10 in 20 overs. Kings having scored 200+ in the previous innings knew it was a piece of cake for them. The pitch was turning, but wasn’t turning enough like Motera & the spinners of Lions were kept at bay, knowing the Lions penchant for scoring runs from glorious hits. The average economy of Lions’ bowlers remained unchanged at 9+, and so did the status of the match.
Kings won convincingly in 15.1 overs & the celebrations ensued till the time our Chief Guest of Honour - Mr. Akhil Chowdhary arrived. As is the typical journey of DCE’ites & DTU’ites the introduction being a must - all the players were lined up to introduce themselves & the work they do.
The presentation ceremony began in style with each player being presented a medal (the gold to Kings & the silver to the Lions). The trophies for top performers for the day was presented by the delegate of guests. Abhinav Jain was adjudged the Player of the Match for the first game and Kunal Negi (DTU’13) received the same for the final match. Abhinav was the performer of the day with 98 runs and 5 wickets in two matches. He also bagged the Best Batsman award, while Vikram Hooda (DTU’19) of the Kings was awarded the Best Bowler.
Phase 5 (Post Match Presentation Ceremony)
Finally it was time for awarding the winner’s trophy, for which the whole battle-like situation was created on the WhatsApp groups. It was presented to the captain of the Kings, Mr. Rama by the Chief Guest. Being the humble leader he is, he invited his teammates to celebrate the win and pose with the prize of their hard work.The moment was captured on the backdrop of a beautiful flood-lit ground by the well-trained camerapersons and the ever-buzzing drone.
It was the time to say goodbye to the day, but not before deciding that it was just the beginning with more exciting elements to be added to the future editions of this mega affair. Nikhil Jeph (DCE’12), the captain of DCE football team in 2011-12, was also part of the organizing committee and the success of this event has encouraged him to conduct a similar event with football players from DCE/DTU.
All of this was possible only because of the support of our distinguished alumni who guided us in our quest to bring our community closer to make this event a big hit. Special thanks to GSTrobo,Vaco Binary Semantics, GoMechanic, Binary Semantics, FleetRobo, DigitalEd, Pepperfry, Grorapid, Lal10, Proxy, CrownIt, & Channelplay.
With the hope we will meet up soon, we close the Season 1 of DCE-DTU Cricket Championship
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Created on Tuesday, 08 September 2015 08:03
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 September 2015 08:09
Raghav Sehgal DCE alumnus 2005, CEO and founder RXV.coRXV.co is a product by RxVault, NASSCOM Award winning Electronic Health data management platform founded by alumni from IIM Ahmedabad, ISB & Delhi College of Engg. in 2013. Our client list include major players in healthcare sector, like Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare, Religare Wellness, CDC etc. who have data of their 20,000+ patients online with us.RXV.co is a mobile app that enables patients to have 24x7 Instant & Live Video Consultations with doctors. Patients can also order lab tests and medicines, as per doctor’s digitally signed prescription, right from within the app. We are going to launch the app in mid-August with over 1,000 specialists from major hospitals, 200 pharmacies and more than 40,000 diagnostics testing centres across India as our healthcare partners for the app.
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