If everything goes according to the plan, Chhattisgarh will host some greatest cricketers of the world in the month of March this year. The ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest fielder of all time Jonty Rhodes from South Africa, the world record holder for amassing 501 in 474 minutes off only 427 balls Brian Lara, one of the fastest Australian bowlers Brett Lee, and the giant performer and holder of the records of most wickets in One Day Internationals as well as Test matches Muttaiah Muralitharan will be among other greats who will participate in the Road Safety World Series Cricket Tournament at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, Nava Raipur, from March 2 to 21.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has given his approval for conducting the tournament in Raipur during a telephonic talk with tournament commissioner Sunil Gavaskar. Gavaskar expressed his interest to hold T-20 tournament in Raipur.
The tournament will feature a total of five teams. The Professional Management Group and the Road Safety Cell of the Maharashtra Government are the organizers of the tournament. The Road Safety World Series 2020 teams that will be participating in the competition are India Legends, Australia Legends, South Africa Legends, Sri Lanka Legends and West Indies Legends.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already given its approval to the Road Safety World Series cricket tournament, which is being conducted to generate awareness towards road safety. The tournament is supported by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Broadcasting partner for the tournament is Viacom-18 Colours Cineplex while Voot and Jio are digital partners.
The Road Safety World Series cricket tournament will be helpful in boosting tourism and investment prospects for Chhattisgarh and also will give momentum to the economy as well as boost the morale of people during this COVID-19 pandemic. This tournament will establish capital Raipur in such a way in the country which has been able to control the pandemic through good governance. It may be recalled that due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Premier League tournament was organized in UAE. This tournament will project Raipur as the first city to hold such a mega tournament during the period of COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will be Chief Guest of the tournament.
