For fans, an Ind-Pak encounter is the best competition

One Leicester cricket fan could do little to hide his delight after captaining his India side to Edgbaston Fans T20 Trophy glory in Birmingham on Monday.

Facing a Pakistan fans’ side, Pratap Odedra’s team came from behind to defeat their opponents by five runs, requiring a Super Over to settle the tie.

Due to inclement weather, the match was moved from its original venue, Attock Cricket Club, indoors to the Edgbaston Cricket Centre, but that didn’t stop the Indian players from showing their prowess at the wicket.

With India taking on Pakistan during the ICC Champions Trophy on June 4 at Edgbaston, Monday’s event provided the perfect prequel to the big game.

And for computer engineer Odedra, he couldn’t have been prouder to have donned the Indian shirt and lifted the silverware with his team.

“It was a quick learning game, we are not used to this environment,” said the 50-year-old.
“The first game was a big learning curve. I told the boys to go back out and enjoy themselves, but to correct what they had done wrong.

“I hoped they would put it right and they did. We turned it around and the atmosphere changed as we built in confidence, and we took that into the Super Over.

“It feels great to have won. I think the overall atmosphere is great, but not just because of being part of the winning team, but because of just being here.
“India versus Pakistan has always seen great competition, wherever it may be in the world, and this felt a real part of that.

“It has been a great warm up to the Champions Trophy game, and hopefully India can take the win then as we have done, but at the end of the day, the best team will win.”

The Edgbaston Fans T20 Trophy was established in 2016 with a match between England’s Barmy Army and Pakistan, and this year welcomed the ICC Champions Trophy, along with the ICC Women’s World Cup, as the Nissan Trophy Tour reached Birmingham.

As one of three venues for the ICC Champions Trophy – which takes place from June 1-18 – Edgbaston will host five games, including one semi-final, with Pakistan versus India expected to be the biggest of them all.

“It’s really important to bring Indian and Pakistani communities together like this, especially under the banner of the ECB,” said Gulfran Riaz, chairman of the National Asian Cricket Council.

“The more we can get the Asian cricketing communities closer to established set-ups, it allows the players to come and experience things like this which they wouldn’t normally do.

“It’s great to bring people together who are from almost two ends of the scale, and this can only do good for the community and the cricketing family.”

The ICC Champions Trophy (1-18 June) and ICC Women’s World Cup (24 June – 23 July) will both see the best eight ODI teams in the world compete for glory in England & Wales this summer. Tickets available at icc-cricket.com/tickets

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