TTCB – News

Amral’s offer T20 India charter for T&T fans
July 26, 2011

LOCAL cricket fans are being offered a great opportunity to travel to India to support Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions League T20 tournament in September/October. It will start with a six-team qualifying tournament from September 19 to 21 from which T&T will seek to advance to the main draw.

Experienced tour operators Amral’s Travel Service based at Mid Centre Mall in Chaguanas have come up with two packages according to Barry Bidaisee who headed a T&T cricket Board committee tasked with exploring the possibility of arranging a for the historic event.

However, the plan has been upended by the organisers of the tournament who have made a stipulation that Caribbean T20 champions T&T will have to qualify for the main draw of the Champions League T20 with five other teams. Bidaisee said the late condition has placed some uncertainty in the minds of diehard cricket fans who were intent on following the Red Force in India.

“We had planned to accommodate close to 200 fans who had shown some interest in the charter but through no fault of the T&TCB, the qualifying tournament has made it impossible to successfully organize the charter,” said Bidaisee.

However he revealed that Amral’s, with whom the T&TCB was working closely with, has gone ahead and organized two packages inclusive of airline travel, hotel accommodation and ground transfers which covers both the three-day qualifying tournament and the main competition which follows.

Nadine Thomassian, managing-director of Amral’s confirmed on Tuesday that the first package from September 16 to 25 has been priced at $17,325 while the other, from September 16 to October 11, has a price tag of $25,995.

Ms Thomassian said cricket fans will also have the option of heading off to India via New York; or through London, England where no visas are required for T&T nationals. However those who opt for New York must be in possession of a valid US Visa.

Bidaisee, Manager of the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre in St Ann’s was high in praise for the Amral’s representatives who he said made a presentation to the T&TCB which he described as very impressive and which had found their favour.

“We are confident that cricket fans will find the packages quite affordable and expect no problems as Amral’s have great experience in arranging overseas travel for groups such as the cricket fans planning to travel to India for the Champions League T20,” said Bidaisee.

T&T cricketers are currently preparing for the Champions League with a series of T20 trial matches. They are grouped in Pool “A” of the qualifiers which comprise two groups of three teams each, with the winners and the team with the next best record moving into the main draw.

T&T open their campaign on September 19 in Hyderabad where they will also play their second match the next evening. The other teams in the qualifiers are Auckland Aces (New Zealand) and Kolkota Knight Riders (India). Yet to be named are two England teams and one from Sri Lanka.

T&T participated in the first Champions League T20 which was also staged in India in 2009 where the Red Force captured the imagination of the cricket world by stunning their more fancied opponents to reach the final where they emerged runners-up to New South Wales Blues of Australia.