Cricket meet adds to National Day festivities

Taking into account the enormous popularity of cricket among the country’s South Asian expatriates, the Committee of Associated Activities for Qatar National Day Celebrations 2013, along with Lagaan Cricket Club, is hosting a four-nation T20 cricket tournament at Qatar National Cricket Stadium (West End Park) on December 18.Teams representing the country’s expatriates from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will take part in the daylong tournament.The tournament, the first of its kind in Qatar, is being held under the patronage and support of Col Abdullah Khalifa al-Muftah, Director of Public Relations in the Ministry of Interior (MoI), and Mana al-Mana, Qatar businessman and manager-owner of West End Park.Briefing journalists yesterday, Lagaan Cricket Club and Indian Business Promotion Network president Azeem Abbas said Indian cricketer Mohamed Kaif would be the chief guest at the tournament. Al-Mana and MoI Expatriates Activities Co-ordinator F Hudawi were also present.The participating teams will play 20-over matches on a league-cum-knockout basis and the top two teams will play in the final the same afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm. Matches will start at 8am.A total of QR15,000 will be given away to the teams, of which the winner will get QR7,000 and the runners-up QR4,000. The other two participating teams will get QR2,000 each.Special trophies will be given to the winners and runners-up. There will also be a man-of-the-match award in every game.The organisers said the entire stadium would be decorated with Qatar’s national flag and there would also be music by a DJ, as seen in IPL matches. A raffle draw featuring prizes such as TV, mobile phones, DVD, watches and home appliances would also be there.Attractive prizes have been planned for spectators as well, according to the organisers. Coupons will be issued to each spectator while entering the stadium and draws will be conducted after every match. Awards will be given to only those present at the stadium. Entrance to the matches is free.At the stadium, gates 1, 3 and 5 will be open for general spectators while Gate 7 will be reserved for families.There will be free transport for families and six buses will be operated from DPS-MIS (Al Wakrah), Family Food Centre (Airport Road) and Home Centre (near Jaidah flyover). The timings are 10am and 1pm. The buses will return at 7pm from the parking area in the stadium complex.