BAPS Charities organised a national indoor cricket tournament, the ‘Yogi Yuva Cup’, on Sunday 18 March 2018 at Westway Sports Centre, London. 2018 marked 20 years since the first Yogi Yuva Cup, and this excitement showed with more than 300 participants aged between 15 and 50 forming 38 teams representing towns and cities from across the UK.
Each contributed to some high-quality cricket, providing entertainment and healthy competitiveness while fostering tremendous community spirit and unity.
The top two teams in each of the eight groups qualified for the knockout stages of the Yogi Yuva Cup tournament, from which eight teams progressed safely with no major shocks – the strength and experience of the seeded teams proving too strong for the challengers. However, with this edition being the 20th anniversary since its inauguration, an additional ‘Plate’ competition was introduced for teams finishing 3rd in each group.
Following the quarter-final games, full of surprises, four teams remained and each were eager to get their hands on the trophy. West London A ended BM Legends’ fairytale run, while last year’s winners Finchley A defeated ‘compatriots’ Finchley B. Akshar Deri A and East London A also progressed to the semi-finals, with victory over APC Lions and South London A, respectively.
In the Plate semi-finals, there were convincing victories for South London B against Akshar Deri B and Harrow C against YM NSDT to book their places in the final of the Plate competition.
In the Yogi Yuva Cup semi-finals, last year’s finalists were eager to meet again in the final. Finchley A did their part by defeating Akshar Deri A. However, last year’s runners up ran out of steam and East London A were victorious against West London A.
In the Plate final, it was a competitive encounter, right up to the last over. Harrow C batting first put 51 on the board, however South London B fell just short by a run and Harrow C were crowned champions of the Plate competition.
In the much-anticipated final of the Yogi Yuva Cup, last year’s winners Finchley A were up against East London A. It was a competitive encounter with both giving everything to be champions. With the crowd cheering on both teams, Finchley A’s experience at this stage of the competition ultimately proved crucial and they retained the Yogi Yuva Cup.
Yogi Yuva Cup
Winners: Finchley A
Runners Up: East London A
Best Batsman: Himanshu Depala (Finchley A)
Best Bowler: Arpit Naik (Finchley A)
Plate Competition
Winners: Harrow C
Runners Up: South London B
Best Batsman: Rashesh Rao (YM NSDT)
Best Bowler: Himanshu Patel (YM NSDT)
The hugely successful event encouraged youths and adults leading busy lifestyles to engage in some healthy activity and helped develop positive community relations.
