Winning team takes home a goat in a local cricket tournament in Palgarh

Have you ever heard of a winning cricket team getting a goat as their winning memento? It seems strange but it was exactly what happened in a cricket tournament organised in the Jawhar taluka of Palghar district. The winning team wasn’t handed any prize money or a trophy, instead, they got a goat while the runners-up team bagged 5 roosters. Each player bagged a boiled egg for every fours and sixes. Spectators who caught the ball from the stand was also awarded an egg each.

Coach Umesh Tamore was of this idea and managed to implement it after convincing the tournament committee that money creates tension and might also lead to ugly brawl among players. “Every year cricket matches are held at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Jawhar with prize money of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh,” Tamore was quoted as saying by Times of India.

Despite there being no cash prize, 14 teams came forward and participated in the tournament. Entry fees for each team were Rs.1,000 while the tournament committee including Tamore chipped in with Rs 1000 each. While the teams were competing in the five over matches the goat was kept tied at some distance.

The team Darya Sagar Mitra Mandal who won the tournament posed with the goat after winning the 14 side tournament. Captain Manoj Prabhu said it was a pretty unique prize and the whole team is now waiting to feast on it. “The prize was unique. We are now waiting to feast on it,” he said. Royal Teacher 11 who were the runners-up had a tough time managing their winning award of 5 roosters. “They are not a bad deal,” said captain Anil Kangne who is a local teacher.

Both players and the audiences were given Veg Pulao for lunch while all of them shared the boiled eggs among them. “In the past, we have experienced allegations of rigging and fights over prize money. This time, all willingly shared their prizes,” said Tamore.

Shakuntala Majumdar, Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals President said gifting an animal as a prize is not illegal but “ethically and morally we are against gifting animals as there is no way of knowing how they would be treated and where they have been procured from”.