About 350 people crowded the cricket pitch adjacent to the Cupertino Library Nov. 5 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the California Cricket Academy (CCA).
The event was hosted by CCA founders Hemant and Kinjal Buch, who launched the academy because they wanted their sons to enjoy the game of their childhood in India within the Silicon Valley community. In the ensuing two decades, membership has grown from 23 to over 400 in eight cities.
The CCA received special recognition at the gala from the office of Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), Cupertino City Councilmember JR Fruen and academy sponsors.
Kalra last month announced his intention to introduce an Assembly resolution to recognize and support the sport of cricket in California. Cricket is played all over the world, especially in South Asian countries, Commonwealth nations and the United Kingdom. It was recently announced that cricket will be played in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, one of five new sports to be included. The last time cricket was an Olympic sport was in 1900 in Paris.
CCA’s players of the year were awarded scholarships at the gala from the Arjun-Vohra Trust and Altius Strategic Consulting LLC to support students’ academic and cricketing pursuits. This year’s scholarship winners are Vritansh Velpula in the under 10 age category, Vihaan Apte in U12, Sai Kulkarni in U13-15, Suhrith Kaushik in U15-17 and Akshara Anand in the Girls Player Division.
For more information about the California Cricket Academy, visit www.calcricket.org.
