Royals face ‘Authors’ at Jaipur Lit Fest

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S. Sreesanth

IPL team Rajasthan Royals will play a friendly cricket match against a team consisting of leading authors attending the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival starting on January 24.

The match, to be played on January 23, will see the likes of India pacer S. Sreesanth, Ashok Menaria, Ajit Chandela, Dishant Yagnik, Raghu Iyer and Shashi Tharoor forming the Royals XI team.
The Authors XI team includes prominent names such as Richard Beard, Sam Carter, Nicholas Hogg, James Holland, Tom Holland, Anthony McGowan, Anosh Irani, Alex Preston and Charlie Campbell as the captain.
“It is a dream made real for the authors to play the Royals XI. We feel like cricket’s answer to Rocky Balboa. We are all ready, if asked, to turn our backs on books and join the growing ranks of fans of T20 cricket,” said Campbell on Tuesday.
The Pink City is also home to the Rajasthan Royals currently captained by former Indian captain Rahul Dravid. The match is set to be a new fixture in the annual event at Jaipur, and would be open to the public at no cost, according to organisers.
“It is an unusual combination to have authors and cricketers in a match of skill — this new festival fixture will be a delight for audiences from Jaipur and around the world,” said festival producer, Sanjoy K. Roy.