A 22-day cricket extravaganza got underway in Canacona as the 1st Shree Chetan Manju Desai Leather Ball T-20 Cricket Taluka-Level Tournament began at Maxem Cricket Ground in Loliem village.
The tournament was inaugurated with the garlanding of the wickets and breaking of a coconut on the pitch by cricketer Sandesh Naik, in the presence of Loliem-Polem Dy. Sarpanch Pankaj Bandekar, Panch Sachin Naik, Ex-Panch Santan Da Costa, and others during a glittering opening ceremony on Friday morning, shortly after the inaugural match between Maratha Warriors and Patnem-Colomb Avengers was played.
Two league matches will be played each day by the 16 invited teams from Canacona taluka across two of the three specially prepared pitches at Maxem Cricket Ground. The quarter-finals will be held on 8th and 9th April, the semi-finals on 11th April, and the 3rd place match and grand final will take place on 12th April 2026.
A total of 240 players are expected to participate in the leather-ball tournament, conducted alongside a series of tennis-ball cricket tournaments held at regular intervals across the taluka. The semi-finals and final will be telecast live on the Goa Livecast YouTube channel.
