Indian Stars League to be Held in the Capital City in Winter 2024

NEW DELHI:
Bollywood Tigers and NCR Lions will slug it out in a riveting contest for the glittering DPM Cricket cup in the inaugural Indian Stars League (ISL) match, which will be held in the national capital in the winter this year amid glitter and fanfare.

The star-studded celebrity cricket match will be held at the Dr Arun Jaitley stadium. The date of the match will be announced later, film actor-singer Manoj Tiwari, MP, and actor Raja Bherwani told mediapersons at the Constitution Club here today.

Each team will have 11 members with Suniel Shetty and Manoj Tiwari leading Bollywood Tigers and NCR Lions, respectively.

The team of Bollywood Tigers includes big names like Sonu Sood, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Jay Bhanushali, Freddy Daruwala, Raja Bherwani, Manmeet Singh and Darshan Gandas.

NCR Lions include Akash Vijay Vargiya, Ravi Kishan, Sharad Chaudhary, Sharad Kelkar, Harmeet Singh, Apoorva Lakhia and Dinesh Lal Yadav.

Mr Tiwari said the contest will include politicians and bureaucrats, and new elements will be added each year.

“It is important that a good atmosphere is created in the country towards sports, and everyone must strive towards that….Jo fit hai woh hit hai (those who are fit are hit,” he added, citing Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s call to the people to remain fit and healthy.

He said the DPM Cricket Cup is big initiative to keep fit and one should not see who wins or loses. “It is a contest where everyone will have to work, run, do the fielding and also throw the ball. If they don’t play well, then they will have to be prepared to get yelled at,” he said, evoking laughter.

“I will support you in every way that I can,” he said and extended best wishes to the initiative.

Actor Raja Bherwani said he has been playing cricket, including celebrity cricket, with Manoj Tiwari, whom he referred to as ‘Manoj Bhaiya’, for years.

“We’ve been playing with a lot of competition and also getting yelled at. If we played a shot, then Manoj Bhaiya in anger would bowl a yorker and get us out,” he recounted, to laughter all around.

Terming the initiative “a good beginning”, he said, “Everyone knows that in India only two things are considered entertaining – movies and cricket. And when film stars play cricket, it becomes even more entertaining. It will be even more fun for all when politicians and IPS officers play together.”

Those who were present at the press conference included Shivanshu Mishra and Dr Himanshu Mishra, both Directors of DPM Group, and Abhishek Archana Srivastava and Mangal Nair, both DPM co-organisers.

Also present were members of DPM Board of Association : Shrayam Bhargava, Happy, Vivek Pandey, Satyendra Kumar Binu, Dharmendra Ojha, Surya Rajput and Dev Nagariya.