In Conversation With: Dilip Agrawal, CEO & Founder, Actors Cricket Bash

Fans will get to see some of television's most loved faces such as Jay Bhanushali, Sharad Kelkar, Manav Gohil, Shabir Ahluwalia, Aly Goni, Samir Kocchar, Shahwar Ali, Navdeep Tomar, Abhishek Kapur, Abhishek Verma, Apoorva Lakhia, Suyash Rai, Balraaj, Pravesh Yadav and many more, on the field letting off some steam. Speaking ahead of the tournament we had a quick chat with its Founder and CEO, Mr. Dilip Agrawal to share his journey and the secret behind the tournament's success.

1. What is the story behind the conception of Actors Cricket Bash? How did it come to be?

I have been a cricket enthusiast all my life, even well into my 50s I play regularly and it's more than just a hobby. It was during one friendly game back in the day I met Salil Ankola, Sharad Kelkar, Shabir Alhuwalia and we realised the common love and passion we have for cricket! This led to the inception of our own celebrity team Boxy Boyz in 2006.

Over the years more and more actors joined Boxy Boyz, which is when I had my eureka moment where I thought this can be taken up a notch and why not have a tournament for ourselves where actors can come together and celebrate cricket!

And so, with a lot of planning and hard work we launched Actors Cricket Bash!

2. What is it that sets Actors Cricket Bash apart from other cricket leagues in India? What is the USPs of this league?

The major USP we have is that it is Actors only cricket tournament; no professional players are allowed to play in it. Although we have many district level players, players who have a very good base and understanding of the game. This makes the tournament very competitive and the marriage of cricket and actors makes it an entertaining spectacle for everyone involved.

3. You have 80+ top television actors who dedicate 3-4 days for you, how to manage to pull this off given their busy schedules/shoots?

Honestly it comes down to the passion and zeal all the actors have for the game, without their commitment, executing a tournament of the scale of Actors Cricket Bash would not be possible. From our end we do plan the tournament well in advance, giving them enough time to plan their shoots and other commitments. Once their schedules are managed, every year we look forward to coming together to blow off some steam and we have a blast!

4. What is the roadmap for Actors Cricket Bash going forward?

With ACB the roadmap for the next couple of years is to spread its wings across to different states within the country. Our target is primarily tier 2 and tier 3 cities which are generally devoid of such a scale of cricket or entertainment.

After we have achieved this we would like to add a Middle Eastern team and make this an International Event.

5. Apart from Actors Cricket Bash, will we see you conceptualizing other leagues in India/abroad?

Yes definitely, I have a lot of ideas which are in the pipeline, unfortunately I cannot disclose much as it's still too early, but to just give you a whiff the focus will be around International Tournaments. So fingers crossed, the market for cricket is exponential around the world as we all know!

6. What advice would you give to budding cricketers/young entrepreneurs?

Two things, which drive me to work every day,

Never give up! Believe in yourself!