Cricket legend Wasim Akram and well-known television presenter Harsha Bhogle launched the Toyota University Cricket Championship anthem in Mumbai on Wednesday. The anthem, “AB HAMAARI BAARI HAI” has been composed by the famous musical troika of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. The lyrics are by Prasoon Joshi. The anthem is an adaptation of Queen’s rocking and sporty number: “We will, we will rock you.” TUCC could not have asked for a better team to score the anthem. The troika of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, often called the Amar, Akbar, Anthony of Indian music, composed the official anthem for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, titled De Ghuma Ke. It became extremely popular among youths and cricket enthusiasts within days of its release.
He is no stranger to showbiz and former Pakistani Test captain Akram was probably the right man to launch the catchy anthem. Akram, who has joined as a TUCC brand ambassador, said: “This tournament will be a new way to find talent. It will be great for the students and this will be a nice way to boost their confidence.”
Akram, recalled his association with University cricket in Pakistan. Saying he was a 12th man in his first college match “because his captain was a left-arm pace bowler”, the Pakistan Test star said: “Pakistan is ignoring University cricket. Now they will learn from this initiative.”
Saying the television “visibility” factor in TUCC will encourage players, Bhogle remembered how great players like Mohammed Azharuddin, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Arshad Ayub emerged from the University cricket system. “There was no TV in our days. All we had is a badge that we sported on our shirt pocket. Today, the players will have video footage. This is simply amazing. The tournament will also open up more career options”
Loy explained the anthem is a “global” composition. “It’s a basic and beautiful composition with a desi touch.” Interestingly, Loy also coined the jingle for Director NDTV Prannoy Roy’s pioneering TV News feature show, the World This Week.
It’s all building up to a gala opening ceremony at Delhi’s Ferozshah Kotla as eight Universities from across the country line up for the February 23-March 10 event to be played in Delhi, Mumbai, Gwalior and Bengaluru. TUCC has the blessings of the HRD Ministry, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Association of the Union Universities.


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