Ericsson Kolkata recently organised the 2024 Ericsson Premier League to celebrate a unique format of the country’s most popular sport. Braving the heatwave in Kolkata, over 250 employees took part in the tournament, which was held at the NKDA Cricket Stadium in New Town on April 19 (after the initial rounds had taken place on March 19), 5pm onwards.
The Diversity Teams
A total of 12 teams from different units of Ericsson Kolkata came together on the pitch, including four “Diversity Teams” who played in a special championship among themselves. The Diversity candidates participated in a “Power Over”, with every candidate getting to bat and bowl to each other. Eventually, the Diversity part of the competition was won by Blue Sapphire.
Ericsson BOS Superkings, winners of the Silver Plate match
Each of the 12 teams was ‘owned’ by team leaders from different organisational units, with each team comprising 15 players. While the group stage involved seven overs for each team, the knockout matches featured five overs per side. Following exciting action in the group stage as well as the semi-finals, Ericsson Enterprise IT won the grand final by defeating Ericsson NET Core. The two top ranked teams from the rest of the field squared off in the Silver Plate final, which saw Ericsson BOS Superkings get the better of Ericsson BOS Blaster in a thrilling last-over finish.
“The sporting spirit was on full display at Ericsson Global Kolkata. The cricketing fever was further bolstered by the exhibition matches played by line managers and the diversity leaders,” said Abir Biswas, the head of Ericsson’s Business Unit Cloud Services, Kolkata. “Sports contribute to physical fitness, mental well-being and social interactions. The flood-lit cricket ground gave us an energetic environment of fun and play, which helped us foster important soft skills like leadership, decision-making, discipline, teamwork, tolerance, trust, collaboration and communication,” explained Rajashik Kar, location lead.
The winners of the managers’ matches
“It felt much more than a sport. It was a joyous symphony that brought different teams together and celebrated the spirit of working, playing and bonding together,” said Prasoon Mishra, the head of Ericsson’s People Business Partner. “We don’t usually play cricket, but it’s a household sport when it comes to watching it. It was wonderful to participate in the tournament and even better to win it. I’m already looking forward to the next edition,” observed diversity manager Sanhita Sarkar.
Looking back at the tournament, organiser Judhajit Mukherjee, one of the most prominent cricketing faces in the city, said: “At the end of the day, the true winner was cricket, which unified an entire organisation into getting on the field by braving the challenging weather conditions and pulling off a great event!”
