Dilshan, Agarkar announced as new entrants in Ice Cricket tournament in Switzerland

What's the story?

The Ice Cricket tournament, scheduled for February 8 and 9 this year, will see new participants with the likes of former Team India pacer Ajit Agarkar, former Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and New Zealand's retired spinner Nathan McCullum confirmed as the latest entries.

In case you didn't know..

The two-day event, which will be the inaugural St. Moritz Ice Cricket tournament, will take place against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps.

The two teams – the Royals and the Badrutts – which will be competing in extreme cold, with big names like former South Africa captain Graeme Smith and his teammate Jacques Kallis among the group.

The Royals will have a team full of experienced former internationals like Shahid Afridi, Daniel Vettori and Shoaib Akhtar, while the Badrutts boast of the big-hitting Virender Sehwag, Mike Hussey and Lasith Malinga among others.

The heart of the matter

The lake where the matches will be held naturally freezes into a tremendously thick layer of ice, thus helping it endure a weight as high as greater than 200 tons. This permits the construction of a pavilion and grandstands, which will enable the event to run smoothly despite the matches being conducted in harsh weather.

The pitch for the unique extravaganza comprises an artificial turf carpet which has been rolled out on the snowfield in St Moritz.

Vijay Singh, the CEO of VJ Sports, said of the event, “We are good to go to make history and are extremely eager to see all these amazing players take on the challenge and give their fans a lot to cheer about. The special viewpoint is, obviously, the 22 yards offering an approach to snow as opposed to the standard soil one.”

As reported by Indian Express, Vijay added that the green signal from the ICC for the short tournament would bring benefits across the world. “With the approval from the International Cricket Council [ICC], the St. Moritz Ice Cricket Tournament has the potential to become a flagship property for the recognizing benefactors of the diversion everywhere throughout the globe.”

Author's Take

This is not the latest experiment conducted to ensure that the game of cricket spreads all along the world map.

Recent examples include the T10 league held in the UAE, while in 2016, India and West Indies had played 2 T20 internationals in the USA to attract cricket-watching public in that country.