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Paramount Sportings, one of the premier cricket clubs of Bhubaneswar, today announced to stage the 7th All Odisha Aurobinda Memorial Paramount Cup Cricket Tournament at Paramount Ground, BJB Nagar from 25 May to 1 June 2025. Eight leading cricket clubs of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will vie for the glittering silver trophy.
“Young and established players of Odisha State teams will be seen in action during the tournament, which features seven 40-overs-a-side matches, including the final. The champion and runner-up teams will receive cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively,” tournament convenor Pradyumna Kumar Jena said in a press conference in Bhubaneswar.
Briefing on the journey of the 46-year-old club, Paramount Sportings president Pratap Kumar Jena said: “Since its formation in 1979, our club has been most consistent in providing quality training and coaching facilities to both budding and established cricketers from across the State.
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“Due to the contributions of the club members, we have developed a piece of barren land to a well-equipped cricket ground, which now features a lush green turf, two concrete and five turf pitches, along with a bowling machine. At present around 250 cricketers, aged between 10 to 30 years are doing their daily practice, under the guidance of three coaches.
Paramount Sportings also provides training facilities to physically challenged cricketers. The club has the reputation of grooming a number of State and National level cricketers, including former Odisha captain Pravanjan Mullick, first-class cricketers Chitta Ranjan Swain, Debasis Samantaray, Kartik Biswal; youngsters Sourav Gouda, Minal Parida, Sudarshan Swain, Ritesh Priyaranjan, Sourav Mishra, Sayed Tufayl Ahmad, Krishna Sasmal and women cricketers Subhashree Paramanik and Mitali Sharma.
Paramount Sportings has been organising two state-level tournaments every year with Sidhant Memorial for the juniors and Aurobinda Memorial for the seniors,’’ added president Jena.
While announcing the details of the upcoming tournament, club officials were worried that due to the ambiguity over the ownership of the ground, career prospects of a large number of cricketers could be in jeopardy.
“Though Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation was the owner of the ground, Paramount Sportings developed it as a nursery for budding cricketers. For over 45 years, the club has been maintaining the ground from its own resources. But we hear that recently the ownership of the ground has been given to BJB College, which already has its own ground,” disclosed Pradyumna Jena.
“Of course, it is government land and the government may give it to any institution. But the ground has become a major training hub for cricket and supplier of players to different State teams. Our appeal to the State Government and BMC is that Paramount Sportings should be allowed to carry on with its dedicated mission of grooming cricketing talents for the State at this ground,” stated club president Pratap Jena.
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TOP: A view of the silver trophy that will be presented to winners of the 7th All Odisha Aurobinda Memorial Paramount Cup Cricket Tournament in Bhubaneswar on 1 June 2025.
RIGHT: Office-bearers of Paramound Sportings brief mediapersons on the performances, contributions and future challenges in Bhubaneswar on 20 May 2025.
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