Proceeds of 'Portraits of the Game-II' will be used to provide cricket coaching and equipment for underprivileged children
Proceeds of 'Portraits of the Game-II' will be used to provide cricket coaching and equipment for underprivileged childrenCricket legend Sunil Gavaskar released "Portraits of the Game-II", a book published by Dubai business tycoon, philanthropist and cricket patron Shyam Bhatia at the Brit Oval cricket ground last Friday.
The distinguished audience included former Australian captain Ian Chappell, ex West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and former Indian wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer.
The book has been sponsored by Bank Sarasin-Alpen and Alpen Capital and all proceeds will be donated to Shyam Bhatia's charity "Cricket for Care".
The handsome coffee-table book has excellent editorial and production values and is a sequel to Bhatia's "Portraits of the Game I", which he published in 2003 during the South Africa World Cup.
A labour of love for cricket tragic Bhatia, who has the distinction of having attended the semi-final and final stage of every cricket World Cup to-date, the book has unexpectedly become the vehicle for his Cricket For Care foundation.
First edition success
A handsome donation by way of purchase of copies of the first edition by a banker friend, which Bhatia, in turn, donated to a cricket board for coaching underprivileged children, has snowballed to several purchases by different institutions and donations to every Test playing nation.
The $200,000 raised by the first edition has been used to produce cricket kits and to hire coaches for those who do not have the wherewithal to play the game.
The Cricket for Care foundation was formally incorporated in 2007 as a not-for-profit organisation whose mandate is to provide coaching and equipment to underprivileged children around the world.
Born in Sind and educated at Ajmer after Partition, Shyam Bhatia worked as an employee in an insurance company in Bombay before immigrating to Dubai, where he and his elder brother Lacchu Bhatia have built an international trading empire.
The Shyam Bhatia awards are today one of the most important events in the cricketing calendar of the UAE, with legends such as Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd, Imran Khan, Michael Holding, Ian Chappell and Ravi Shastri having presided.
"Portraits of the Game II, cricketing Greats Recall Their Magic Moments" has forewords by Imran Khan and Sunil Gavaskar and is written by veteran cricket writer Kishore Bhimani and illustrated by well-known South African artist Richie Ryall.
ODI momentsContributors to the book, who have recalled their personal favourite one-day moments, include Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Daniel Vettori, Graeme Smith, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Hussey, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shoaib Akhtar, Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Allan Donald, Allan Lamb, Andy Roberts, Anil Kumble, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Brian Lara, Clive Lloyd, Courtney Walsh, David Gower, Gary Kirsten, Glenn McGrath, Graham Gooch, Ian Chappell, Inzamam ul Haq, Jacques Kallis, Javed Miandad, Jonty Rhodes, Mark Waugh, Michael Holding, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nasser Hussain, Rahul Dravid, Rameez Raja, Ravi Shastri, Richard Hadlee, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Shaun Pollock, Steve Waugh, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Zaheer Abbas.
