A Totally Bunts Showcase! First of Its Kind ‘Bunts Premier League: Season 1’ Kicks Off
A Total Bunts Showcase! First of Its Kind ‘Bunts Premier League: Season 1’ Kicks Off at Sahyadri College Grounds on 24 May, and ends on 26 May
Mangaluru: Yes, the India Premier League (IPL) epidemic has invaded Kudla, where we have seen in the past in Kudla, a bunch of organizations/institutions having their own version of Cricket Premier League, like MPL ( Mangalore Premier League), KPL ( Gowd Saraswat Community (Konkani) Premier League); APL (Aloysius Premier League); MPL (Muller Premier League) etc etc- and now two young and energetic Bunt Youth had come up with a unique league for the FIRST time to host the “BUNTS PREMIER LEAGUE 2019 : SEASON-1” – a ten over each cricket tournament and it kicked off at Sahyadri College Grounds, Adyar, in the outskirts of Mangaluru on Friday, 24 May graced by the cream of Bunts honchos and their families and friends. The crowd predominately comprised more of Shetty’s, Rai’s, Bhandary’s, Hegde’s, than Kamath’s, Hussain’s and D’souza’s?
And after IPL Fever, It was Time for BPL Fever! The state-of-the-art Sahyadri ground was all set for the three-day cricket tournament, and it was getting the last minute touch up. Eight dugouts were all ready for the eight participating teams to relax and get ready for their turn to step on the cricket field. Two professional umpires were all set for their duty- and the commentator was doing his last minute sound check- and it was time for the biggest Bunts Cricket Extravaganza of the season, happening for the FIRST time in Buntara NammaKudla!
The Organizers of BPL 2019: Season 1 are Prasad Shetty (L) and Sachin Raj Rai
The inaugural show began with a prayer dance invoking God’s blessing by the talented “Sizzling Guys” dance group- and the compere of the evening Tulu/Kannada actor handsome and debonair Roopesh Shetty who rocked the stage and mesmerized the crowd with his witty punchlines- and the star attraction of the evening was yet another Tulu/Kannada actor Rakshith Shetty, who was thronged by his fans, especially the Sahyadri students to get his autograph. The dignitaries on the dais comprised of Dr A J Shetty ( Chairman-AJInstututions), Dr Mohan Alva (Chairman-Alva’s Education Trust); Sadanand Shetty (Chairman- Sri Devi Education Trust); Jayanth Shetty (former Superintendent of Police-DK); RaghuShetty (chartered accountant); Dr Bharath Shetty (MLA); Raviraj shetty, Sundar Shetty, Chandrahas Shetty, Devi Prasad Shetty, Prasad Rai Kallimar, Raj Gopal Rai, Navneeth Shetty, Shekhar Rai, Ganesh Shetty ( all BIG TIME entrepreneurs) among others. Eight team owners also joined the dignitaries on the dais.
The BPL 2019: Season 1 was inaugurated by lighting the traditional lamp by actor Rakshith Shetty, along with other dignitaries on the dais. Sadanand Shetty in his inaugural address encouraged the cricket players to step up further and reach greater heights in the cricket career, since it has better scope and better prospects. He congratulated the two young organizers, Prasad Shetty and Sachin Raj Rai, for their initiative in coming up with this unique tournament. A J Shetty, Jayanth Shetty, Rakshith Shetty, Dr Mohan Alva, Dr BharathShetty, and few other dignitaries spoke, and urged the crowd to support such events which can help the youth reach greater heights in cricket.
The cricket tournament was inaugurated in a traditional Kudla way, and not by releasing balloons in the air, instead by breaking the coconut on a concrete slab by Sadanand Shetty and A J Shetty. The first three matches on the opening day was played between Tulunad Tigers Vs Mangalore Bulls; Kudla Super Kings Vs Royal Bunts; and Mijar Yerukulu Vs A J Warriors. The opening day matches ended around midnight, and were played under floodlit. Mahabala Marla, the Ex-MCC Mayor administered the tournament oath to the players, who by raising their right hand repeated after him. Actor Rakshith Shetty was honored during the occasion, and Shameer and Musharaj of M S Sports were also felicitated for their support to the tournament. The umpires of the tournament are Roland Pinto and Rajeshwar S from Dakshina Kannada Cricket Association, and the scorer is Athmaram.
The young man behind and organizer of this FIRST season of BPL, Prasad Shetty, a former “Strong Man of India” in the National Powerlifting Contest held in the year 2017-18, and currently a promoter/trainer in sports activity- and who was joined by his co-organizer Sachin Raj Rai, who is managing a Monkey Mayhem Fight Club (Muaythai) in the City, briefing the crowd said” The prime motive in organizing this event is to bring all the people of Bunts Community together and give them a platform for talents in cricket in Bunts community and make way for them to play in higher levels, and also reach greater heights in cricket field. I humbly request you all to support our future sporting events, so that we can give a boost to our young talented youth”.
The BPL has eight Franchise teams, namely- “A J Warriors” owned by Prasanth Shetty and Ashish Shetty (Team Mentor- Kishore Shetty and Team Ambassador-Ms Drayva Shetty); “Mijar Yerukulu” owned by Vijayanath Vittal Shetty and Arjun Rai ( Team Mentor-Nehal and Team Ambassador- Ms Ankitha Shetty); “Royal Bunts” owned by Preethi Shetty Rai and Prasad Shetty ( Team Ambassador- Ms Namratha Rai); “Leeds United” owned by Kishore D Shetty and Prashanth Alva ( Team Mentor-Prakash Shetty and Team Ambassador-Ms Niriksha Shetty) ; “Polali Tigers” owned by Jayaraj Shetty and Suraj Shetty ( Team Mentor- Sandeep Bhandary and Team Ambassador- Ms Rithika Shetty); “Tulunad Tigers” owned Cine star Rakshith Shetty and Ajay Shetty ( Team Mentor- Dhanraj Varadhram and Team Ambassador-Ms Smrithi Shetty); “Mangaluru Bulls” owned by Nithin Shetty and PraveenChandra Alva ( Team Mentor- Nelson and Team Ambassador- Ms Aaradya Shetty) ; and “Kudla Super Kings” owned by Sadanand Shetty ( Team Mentor- Devi Charan Shetty and Team Ambassador- Shreya Shetty)”.
The Advisory Committee members of KPL are- A Sadanand Shetty, A J Shetty, N Raviraj Shetty, Sundar Shetty, Ganesh Shetty, Rajgopal Rai, Sureshchandra Shetty, ChandrahasShetty, Mahabala Marla and Devi Charan Shetty. Regarding the format of the League- there will be 8 teams divided into two pools like A and B, and each team will play 3 league matches in their pool, and two team from each pool will qualify for semi Final , followed by Finals, held on 26 May. These matches will be played during day light and also under flood-lit lights, and each match will be of ten overs. The man of the series will receive a brand new two-wheeler.
