Inmates enjoy a game of cricket on the Beur Central Jail premises on Sunday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Jan. 16: Sports events are a rarity behind the four walls of jails. But Patna’s Beur Central Jail has chosen to be different by promoting sports among the inmates.

And what could have been a better choice on a sunny winter day than to play cricket. The inmates of this high-security jail were doing exactly that and not for the sake of doing it, rather a serious game was in progress on the jail premises today. Inmates of the Godavari section of Beur jail were playing a Yamuna ward inmates in the final match of the round robin cricket tournament. Five different teams comprising of inmates from different wards of the jail took part in the the tournament that had started on New Year’s Day. Batting first, the Godavari team put up a score of 136 in the stipulated 16 overs and the bowlers of this team bundled out the opposition on a paltry score of 64 runs, registering an emphatic win.

Godavari team captain Ajay Jha, who was the top scorer (37) of the match, was adjudged “Man of the Match”. His overall performance in the tournament also earned him the “Man of the Series award”. Refusing to be overawed by the performance of his team and the awards given to him, Jha, who is serving a life term, exhibited the true spirit of a sportsperson when he said: “Playing the game in the right spirit is more important than winning or losing. The way the inmates took a keen interest in the tournament shows that they enjoyed the event.” Jha appeared to be correct, as over 200 inmates watched the match.

So good was the atmosphere that Naushad, who captained the losing side, too was all smiles even after the drubbing in the final. “Reaching the final of the tournament is not a mean achievement. Moreover, my teammates did their level best but the opposition outplayed us in every department,” he said.

Expressing happiness over the inmates’ keen interest in the tournament, Beur jail superintendent Om Prakash Gupta said: “Our main aim is to reform the inmates to enable them to lead a good life once they are released.”

The system of organising an annual cricket tournament in the Beur jail was started in 2008 and since then, a cricket tournament is organised every year.