ITA in association with BIG LIVE hosted a star studded celebrity T20 Cricket Match ~ THE CLOUD 9 CUP ~

~Beti –a movement, a campaign against female foeticide~


The Indian Television Academy (ITA) in association with BIG Live hosted a star-studded celebrity T20 Cricket Match on November 08, 2008 at Andheri Sports Complex. This charity match was in an effort to support the cause of 'Beti' - a movement, campaign against female foeticide. Some of the renowned celebrities from the television industry played the star-studded celebrity cricket match. Cloud 9 is the official sponsor for the event.

Said Anu Ranjan, President – ITA, "This is the third consecutive year that we are organizing a 20-20 Celebrity Charity Cricket Match for the cause of BETI. This is an opportunity for creating awareness amongst people who are indulging in the heinous act of terminating the Girl Foetus, which, in turn, is causing an alarming imbalance of Genders, as created by Mother Nature.

Shashi Ranjan, CMD – ITA added, "We hope to use the star power of these television personalities who are a household name to highlight our cause. The alarming aspect of this gender imbalance, which has plagued our society, is that the practice is more prevalent in urban areas. Hence, it is a myth that only the illiterate rural population indulges in this shameful act."

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nitin Beri, Business Head, BIG Live, said, "We are privileged to be partnering with The ITA for the charity T20 Cricket Match which only gets bigger and better. This charity event will offer an excellent opportunity and value for advertisers and fabulous entertainment for audiences."

Speaking on the occasion, Priyesh Ganatra, Director,"Cloud 9 Energy Drink" said- "Cloud 9 is proud to be associated with the Cloud 9 Cricket Cup. This 20:20 cricket match will be played between famous Indian television celebrities for the social cause of the holistic well being of the concept of the Indian Beti or "The Girl Child". Cloud 9 in alliance with BIG Live stands in support of this social cause and wishes that the Cloud 9 Cup will provide enough energy for the celebrities to play the game at high spirits and the same time provide its support and help every girl child in our nation".

The match had some of the prominent television stars participating and showing solidarity for the cause. Varun Badola was the captain the team of Television Tigers and Sharad Kelkar was the captain the team of Television Warriors. We also had some glamorous television actresses' playing for this social cause. The girls teams are Television Youngistan - Jasvir, Barkha Bisht, Ravee Gupta, Priya Wal, Poonam Gulati and Anu Ranjan and Television Glam Dolls - Soni Singh, Barkha Madan ,Shweta Mahadik, Vaishnavi, Smriti Mohan and Amrita Prakash. The winning team were the Television Warriors led by Sharad Kelkar.

The on ground excitement and happenings were commented by Shaan, Varun Badola, Charu Sharma, Kabir Sadanand and many others.

Team Lineup of the 2008 match:

Television Tigers Televi sion Warriors

Varun Badola – Captain Sharad Kelkar-Captain
Anupam Bhattacharya Manish Paul
Abhay Vakil Karan Mehra
Amit Behl Chaitanya Choudhary
Mohit Mallik Karan Wahi
Charu Sharma Puneet Sachdev
Gaurav Chopra Raja Hassan
Kabir Sadanand Rajiv Thakur
Manish Raisinghani Shaan
Manoje Bidvaii Shashi Ranjan
Sachin Sharma Siddhart Shukla