On Sunday, when the Indian cricket team faces off against Pakistan in Dubai, the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi will host the beginning of a unique cricket league, with a team led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna playing against a squad captained by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. 

The 1st SCAORA Cricket Premier League – a T20 tournament – is being organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA). The inaugural match of the white-ball league will be played under floodlights at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and will also be telecast live. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) have given special permission for the match.

Chief Justice Khanna’s squad will have judges from the Supreme Court, including Justice Surya Kant, and Delhi High Court and will be wearing team colours which are similar to those of the ‘Men in Blue’. The SCAORA XI led by Tushar Mehta will include advocates on record, senior lawyers and DDCA president Rohan Jaitley. 

The CJI XI and SCAORA XI will play only the inaugural match and will not participate in the rest of the league. 

The league will see a total of eight teams – led by senior lawyers Dama Naidu, PB Suresh, Sajan Poovayya,  Devadatt Kamat, Buddy Ranganathan, Vikas Pahwa, Sitesh Mukherjee and Chinmoy Sharma – which will be made up exclusively of advocates on record. 

SCAORA Vice President Amit Sharma said, “Last year, an international legal conference was organised in Goa and the T20 league is being held this year. In the future, events like lectures by Supreme Court judges will be organised for advocates on record. SCAORA secretary Nikhil Jain and assistant secretary Kaustubh Shukla are also playing a key role in these.”