Inaugural Independence Day Cup (2015)

Bringing the love affair of Cricket to Canberra, the Indian and Pakistani community of Canberra, the young and enthusiastic boys of Indian and Pakistani origin have taken an initiative, and have started a friendly cricket competition.

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FINACT supported the initiative and the series was named Independence Day Cricket Series. The three match series started the weekend falling after 14-15 August this year. The first two matches went in Indian team’s favour and this is how Indian boys bagged the series. The final match was played in Nicholls Oval on 6 September 2015. In the third and final match the Pakistani boys defeated Indian team but still conceded the series 1-2.

The event was supported and sponsored by Mr Rakesh Bhutani of Canberra Business and Technology College and Mr Pankaj Monga of Monga Indian Grocery.

Rakesh and Pankaj, both being an ardent fan of the game have been a keen participant in various cricketing activities around Canberra, thus there was no convincing required for them to become a part of this glorious event.

The final day of the series was marked with the grand closing ceremony. Amardeep Singh, the President of the Federation of Indian Associations of ACT (FINACT) presided the closing ceremony and the chief guest Mr Mukesh Kumar, First Secretary of Indian High Commission awarded the medals to both the teams.

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Many community leaders were present to grace the event which included Mr Krishna Nadimpalli (former President of FINACT), Mr Jacob Vadakkedathu (Vice President Canberra Liberal Party Gungahlin unit and past President, FINACT)), Mr Deepak Raj Gupta (President, Australia India Business Council), Mr Harjinder Dhindsa (President, Canberra Punjabi Sports and Cultural Association), Dr Surjit Kang (Canberra Sikh Association) and Mr Jagjit Singh (Chairman, STDC). These special guests awarded the following awards:

Best Bowler of the series:  Aqueel
Best Batsman of the series:  Vishav Thakur
Best Keeper of the series:  Kamal Khan
Best Fielder of the series:  Vicky Rai
Man of the Match 1:  Harendra Kumar
Man of the Match 2:  Timmy Singh
Man of the Match 3:  Waleed
Man of the series:  Jaspal Singh