Akhilesh Yadav at cricket match between CM XI and IAS XI in Lucknow

THE GAME OF CRICKET: A friendly cricket match played between CM XI and IAS XI on Sunday afternoon, on the concluding day of the IAS week, had all the big-wigs of the city gather at the La Martiniere Boys College grounds. Though the match began a bit late, the excitement among team members and the audience was palpable. After winning the toss, the CM XI, chose to bat first in absence of their captain Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.In between the match, politico Shivpal Singh Yadav made a grand entry in a helicopter. When he was asked to give his opinion on the fate of the match, Yadav said, “Khel koi bhi ho, achchi bhawna se khelna chahiye, hausla buland hona chahiye. Har jeet toh lagi rehti hai aur neta achchi tarah se jaante hain kaise jeetna hai.”
As Raja Bhaiya went on to bat, the commentator Naved Siddiqui, was heard saying, “Raja bhaiya teen din se practice kar rahe hai. Unka swagat taliyon se kiya jana chahiye.” Apart from the match, the commentary by RK Verma, SP Goel and Preety Choudhari added more fun to the match as they each took turns to take digs at the players.
CAPTAIN’S KNOCK: It was late afternoon when Akhilesh arrived, dressed in full cricket gear. After meeting his team members and supporters, Akhilesh went on to replace Raja Bhaiyya on the pitch. For each boundary scored by the CM, the players of the opposing team were also heard cheering for him with prompting Verma to say, “It seems the bureaucrats don’t want to risk winning the match against their CM.” In fact, on one ocassion, after being caught by the IAS XI captain Alok Ranjan, on a delivery by former DM Anurag Yadav, instead of the CM given out, Ranjan had the umpire declare the delivery a no ball.
KHEL-KHEL MEIN: The spouses of the politicians as well as the bureaucrats also enjoyed the game. While Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani’s wife Farah cheered her husband's team, Anurag Yadav’s wife Preety, looked tense as she watched her husband play. Dimple Yadav and her kids, meanwhile enjoyed themselves thoroughly, cheering for their team.
AN EASY WIN: Chasing a target of 141 runs in 20 overs, the IAS XI had a smashing start but in a nail biting finish the CM XI clinched the match by two runs. With four fours and sixes, Akhilesh scored an unbeaten 59 runs of 36 balls for which he was later declared the Man of the Match and given a trophy by Azam Khan.
Also spotted at the game were Umesh Sinha, Amrit Abhijat, Anis Ansari, Rajendra Chaudhari, Sanjiv Saran and Rizwan Ahmad.