TOUCH OF TOLLYWOOD: Film actor Tarun addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Thursday. Chairman of SAAP M.S. Raj Thakur (second from right) and VGTMUDA Chairman Malladi Vishnu are also seen. - PHOTO: RAJU V.

VIJAYAWADA: The city will host a cricket match between Tollywood stars and Indian cricketers on June 11 at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium.

The Andhra Pradesh Sports Foundation (APSF) and the Tollywood Cricket Association are jointly organising the match, according to Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh Chairman M.S. Raj Thakur.

Speaking to media persons during his visit to inspect the ongoing summer coaching camps on Thursday, Mr. Thakur said that apart from stars like Tarun and Srikanth, former and present members of Indian cricket team like Azharuddin, Murali Karthik, Balaji, J.P. Yadav, Hemant Badani and M.S.K. Prasad would enthral the audience with their pyrotechnics.

The event was the initiative of APSF, an NGO, floated to develop sports among youngsters and also lend a helping hand in sprucing up sports infrastructure. Vice-president of the foundation Raghu Vasu said the main aim of the foundation was to identify youngsters with sporting potential at an early stage and help them access better coaching resources and facilities by providing them adequate sponsorship.

He said the foundation was keen on using sports and allied activities to campaign for social causes like the fight against AIDS and lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. "The foundation has received donations worth Rs. 65 lakhs from different corporate bodies and individuals, including some NRIs. The surplus proceedings from the cricket match will go to the corpus of the foundation," he said.

Grants for deserving

Mr. Vasu said foundation would release the first few grants to deserving sportspersons on the occasion. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation would improve the greenery in the stadium. "All the patches, which are bereft of greenery, will be covered by grass," said Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority Chairman Malladi Vishnu.

Tollywood star Tarun said the movie world had always geared up to participate in events meant for social causes. The foundation thanked local MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, MLA, VMC Commissioner Natarajan Gulzar, Commissioner of Police Umesh Sharraf and officials of the Andhra Cricket Association for their support. Foundation secretary Nekkanti Madhukar, DSDO B Sudhakar, Regional Deputy Director of SAAP Chinnaiah and others attended.

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