UP Veterans Cricket Championship Begins October 2, Hathras to Face Etah in Opener

The Dr. Gaur Hari Singhania Veterans Cricket Championship will begin on 2 October 2026, with 36 teams from different districts of Uttar Pradesh taking part. The opening Veterans T-20 match will be played between Hathras VCA and Etah VCA on 2 October.

Officials of the Uttar Pradesh Veterans Cricket Association (UPVCA) shared details of the championship during a press conference at Donald Restaurant on Aligarh Road in Hathras. The competition will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis. The 36 participating teams have been divided into eight groups.

Eight coordinators have been appointed for the competition. They are Neel Mani Dwivedi, Zafar Alam, Rajesh Sharma, Pradeep Gupta, Ahmaduddin, OP Kohli, Vijay Singh and Someshwar Pandey.

Players will also be selected for the Rama Mishra Challenger Trophy proposed for March on the basis of their performances in this competition. The responsibility for the selection has been given to former Test cricketer Gopal Sharma.

Teams from Banaras, Prayagraj, Noida, Aligarh, Agra, Etah, Etawah, Mathura, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Basti, Gonda, Mau, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, Lucknow, Hardoi, Jhansi, Jalaun, Bareilly, Lakhimpur, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Azamgarh, Aligarh and other districts will participate in the championship.

The Hathras VCA versus Etah VCA T-20 match will be held at the VSA Cricket Academy ground from 10 am on 2 October. Hathras Veterans Cricket Association president Sanjay Sharma and secretary Rajesh Sharma Advocate gave this information.

UPVCA president Dr. IM Rohtagi and secretary Girish Kapoor will be the chief guests for the match. Officials of various associations, including those from Kanpur, Sambhal, Noida, Aligarh, Agra, Etah, Etawah, Mathura and Hathras, along with former players, have been invited during the match.

Hathras VCA will also honour former players during the event.

Association president Sanjay Sharma and secretary Rajesh Sharma Advocate said the competition will be held in Kanpur on 24 January 2027. The winning team will receive a prize of one lakh rupees from the UPVCA, while the runner-up team will be given 50 thousand rupees.

UPVCA president Dr. IM Rohtagi, secretary Girish Kapoor, Vivek Jain, Rajesh Singh, Sanjay Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Mukul Dixit, Nitin Bagla, Gaurav Pachauri, Praveen Upadhyay, Vijay Sharma, Aayog Deepak, Dr. Manoj Sharma, Vishal Thakur, Saurabh Chanda, Gopala Ponia, Dr. Raghukul Tilak Dubey, Roop Ram Sharma, Mukesh Jain and Saurabh Sharma, among other officials, were present at the press conference.