Street children from Chennai have lifted the first-ever Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC) held at London's Lord's cricket ground on Wednesday.
The team consisted of eight players- four from Chennai and four from Mumbai for what is called the 'Street Twenty' cricket. Paulraj (17), Nagalakshmi (17), Monisha (14) and Suryaprakash (17) from Chennai were selected from city-based NGO Karunalaya who also trained them for the tournament. Paulraj, whose parents run a street tiffin stall, was the captain of the team.
N Paul Sunder Singh, founder and secretary of Karunalaya, told Express, "The final match was between our team and England. Team England won the toss and elected to bat. We finished the game at 47 runs while they scored 43." Paulraj had been the top performer throughout the tournament, he said.
The children had the chance to experience the welcome extended traditionally to national teams at the Lord's.
"They hosted us at the Indian Team's usual dressing room. They told us where Rahul Dravid sat when he scored his century here in 2011. The children sat in the same place before they went out to play," said Paul.
Monisha, one of the players from Chennai spoke at the general assembly in Thomas Lord's suite and made a strong heartfelt plea on behalf of street children. "If you respect us, you will listen to us (street children). If you listen to us, you will protect us. Please protect us." she said.
