{"id":60069,"date":"2026-02-09T19:53:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/?p=60069"},"modified":"2026-02-09T19:53:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:23:43","slug":"punjab-cricket-association-for-punjab-cricket-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/punjab-cricket-association-for-punjab-cricket-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Punjab Govt approves Punjab Cricket League to channel youth towards sports, away from drugs: CM Mann"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Punjab Cricket League to be organised on IPL model, with district &amp; regional teams: CM Bhagwant Singh Mann<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Punjab E News:<\/span> Determined to confront Punjab\u2019s drug crisis by reclaiming its sporting legacy, the Bhagwant Mann Government on Monday approved the launch of the Punjab Cricket League (PCL), positioning sports as a strategic intervention for youth empowerment rather than a token outreach programme.<\/p>\n<p>Planned on the Indian Premier League (IPL) model with district and regional teams and backed by institutional partnerships with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), the league is intended to systematically identify, groom and channel young talent into professional pathways, while simultaneously building a wider ecosystem of district- and state-level leagues across multiple sports to pull the state\u2019s youth decisively away from drugs and towards discipline, opportunity and national representation.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing a few snippets from the following meeting, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann wrote: \u201cToday in Chandigarh, held a meeting with senior officials of the Department of Sports and Youth Services to discuss various issues, with a focused deliberation on promoting sports culture across the state. All officials were directed to make their maximum contribution towards encouraging youth to take up sports, with the objective of building a healthy and fit society. The government is consistently working to restore sports culture in Punjab and to reconnect the youth with playgrounds across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chairing a review meeting of the Sports Department, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann stated that the state government would tie up with the Punjab Cricket Association and the Board of Control for Cricket in India to organise the league with the objective of grooming young talent from across Punjab. \u201cThe state government will collaborate with the Punjab Cricket Association and the Board of Control for Cricket in India to organise the Punjab Cricket League for grooming the youth of the state,\u201d Bhagwant Singh Mann said.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing inspiration from global examples, the Chief Minister stated that such initiatives had played a transformative role in world cricket. \u201cCricketers like Imran Khan and Arjuna Ranatunge gave several renowned players to world cricket through similar initiatives, and this league will go a long way in emerging Punjab as a nursery of cricketing talent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Explaining the structure of the proposed league, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it would be organised on the lines of the Indian Premier League, with teams constituted on the basis of districts and geographical regions. \u201cThe Punjab Cricket League will be organised on the lines of the Indian Premier League, and teams will be formed on the basis of districts and geographical regions such as Majha, Doaba and Malwa to compete in the tournament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Chief Minister said that the initiative would help create a strong pipeline of talented cricketers for both national and international competitions. \u201cThis league will help in producing a talented pool of cricketers for national and international level cricket tournaments,\u201d CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, he underlined the need to promote other sports across the state. \u201cDistrict-level and state-level leagues should also be organised for games like Volleyball, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Kho kho and Kabaddi,\u201d the Chief Minister said, adding that the Punjab government was working on an aggressive campaign to produce the maximum number of trained sportspersons. \u201cOur aim is to ensure that more Punjabi players represent India in international sporting events,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Emphasising Punjab\u2019s rich sporting legacy, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the state has abundant sports talent and the government is fully committed to nurturing it. \u201cPunjab has immense sports talent, and the state government will not leave any stone unturned to enable players to participate and win medals for India at the international level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said that sports provide a powerful avenue for the youth to excel and bring laurels to the state. \u201cGames give our youth the opportunity to excel in sports and bring pride to Punjab,\u201d Bhagwant Singh Mann said, asserting that the government is determined to restore the state\u2019s pristine glory in the field of sports. \u201cThe state government is committed to reviving Punjab\u2019s glory in sports, and no stone is being left unturned to achieve this goal,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Punjab Cricket League to be organised on IPL model, with district &amp; regional teams: CM Bhagwant Singh Mann Punjab E News: Determined to confront Punjab\u2019s drug crisis by reclaiming its sporting legacy, the Bhagwant Mann Government on Monday approved the launch of the Punjab Cricket League (PCL), positioning sports as a strategic intervention for youth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":60070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-punjab"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - 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