Kamboj, Balbir elected ATC President and Secy Gen

Chandigarh, Aug 31 (UNI) I D Kamboj and sports journalist Balbir Singh were unanimously elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the newly formed Association of Twenty20 Cricket (India).

Other office-bearers were also unanimously elected. Among them were NRI Harjinder Singh Dhanoa and Manish Kapoor as senior vice presidents. Namdeo Shirgaonkar of Mumbai and Pankaj Gupta were also elected working secretary and financial secretary, respectively.

A few more office-bearers would be coopted as per requirement of the ATC (India).

Representatives from 12 state associations were present and consent from other states and Union Territories had been received, Mr Kamboj said while addressing a press conference at Hotel Taj here today.

Mr Kamboj said that the the ATC had been formed to promote cricket and provide opportunities to the players to show their skills.

The ATC has decided to conduct four national tournaments---- Under-15, Under 17, Under-19 and Seniors -- this year.

Replying to a question, Kamboj said the ATC would not put any hurdle in the way of any player who is selected to represent the country.

Giving details of the activities conducted by the Chandigarh Twenty20 Cricket Association, Kamboj said that besides organising Inter-State National Tournaments, the CTTCA also hosted a prize money National Open Tournament.

On the question of appointing umpires and scorers, general secretary Balbir Singh said "ATC will have its own panels and soon the state associations would be sending interested players to attend national clinics for umpires and scorers." Working Secretary Namdeo Shraonkar said that representatives from Orissa, Chattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Vidharbha, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Mumbai were present today.

Mr Kamboj said that establishing a National Cricket Academy would be on the priority list of the ATC. The ATC will not charge any entry fee for participation in the Nationals Meets.

Office-bearers: President: I D Kamboj (Chandigarh), Senior Vice-presidents: H S Dhanoa (Punjab), Manish Kapoor (Chandigarh), Ramakant Basode (Maharashtra), Satish Gandhi (Chandigarh).

vice-president: Naresh Kumar (Himachal Pradesh), General Secretary: Balbir Singh (Chandigarh), Working secretary: Namdeo Shirgaonkar (Mumbai), joint secretaries: Prof Vikas Tone (Vidharbha), Parbhakar Kumar (Bihar), Rajat Dikshit (Uttar Pradesh), Amarjit Kumar (Chandigarh), Finance secretary: Pankaj Gupta (Chandigarh).

Executive members: Narinder Bansal (Chandigarh), Sidharath Mahapatra (Orissa) and Ms Suman Saini (Haryana).

UNI