North America Telugu Society (NATS), as a part of the America Telugu Sambaralu,announced the inaugural T20 tournament scheduled to start on Tuesday June 9th and conclude at the Sambaralu convention on July 1st.

Kapil Dev is the guest of honor for the NATS T20 Tournament. The logistics for the T20 tournament will be provided by South Gujarat Cricket Club (SGCC) and will be played under lights at Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus NJ.

This invitational tournament will comprise of six teams that will be divided in two groups of three teams each. The teams in the individual groups would compete on a round robin basis where the top two teams would progress to the semi finals. The tournament will be played with color clothing and white balls.

The prizes are $3,000 for the winner and $1,500 for runner-up, plus prizes for tournament MVP and Man of the Match awards.

Group 1 comprises South Gujarat Cricket Club, Global Challengers Cricket Club and New Jersey City Cricket Club.

Group 2 comprises South Gujarat Cricket Club - Juniors, Freedom Cricket Club and Prince Cricket Club.

Here is a sneak preview of some of the top players that have agreed to participate in the tournament: Neil McGarrell - McGarrell played 4 Tests and 17 ODIs representing West Indies and was a former captain for Guyana. McGarrell also was part of the Guyana side in the Stanford 2020. One of the best left-arm spinners in USA, McGarrell has single-handedly led his team to the various titles in the region by virtue of his intelligent bowling, consistent batting in the middle order and electric fielding in the covers.

Jermaine Lawson - Jermaine Lawson is a West Indian cricketer who has played in 13 Tests and 13 ODIs. Lawson, at his peak, was a fast bowler capable of bowling over 150 km/h. His accomplishments in his first few matches include the rare figures of 6/3 against Bangladesh in his third Test, a hat-trick against Australia in 2003/04, and a haul of 7/78 against Australia which was important in the West Indian victory in the final Test of that series.

Sudesh Dhaniram - Dhaniram a former USA and Guyanese international is a local cricketing legend and the NY Cricket League is replete with stories of his batting exploits such as the time when he once took 48 runs in 3 overs. Dhaniram, who has 46 first-class matches under his belt has 4 hundreds and 10 fifties in first-class cricket for Guyana. He also scored an unbeaten 257 on June 24, 2006, which is among the highest individual limited-overs innings in USA. His aggressive batting style is tailor-made for 20-20 cricket and his addition not only instantly adds power and depth to the Challengers line-up, the younger boys will benefit from his vast experience.

 Siddharth B. Mehta - Leading from the front, Sid is a left-handed opening batsman and is a chinaman bowler as well. Having trained at the Kiran More Cricket Academy in Baroda at a young age, this cricket prodigy moved to the US when he was 18. He has won multiple individual awards in the bowling and batting categories and some of his personal milestones include hitting 200 in a 40-over game and scoring an unbeaten 144 against the Jamaican national team. He is known for his big-match temperament and has always stored his best for the key matches.

The organizers are also awaiting confirmation on former India player and Karnataka captain Sunil Joshi and former West Indies fast bowler Adam Sanford. Kapil Dev, India’s first world cup winning captain has agreed to attend the finals and distribute the prizes for the tournament. "This is a very exciting time for cricket in the United States," Jaideep Reddy, Tournament Director said.

"With a T20 tournament played under lights, we expect to see superb action on the field, from the region's best players, with the recently concluded Cricket World Cup and the IPL 2011, cricket fans from the New Jersey area will be thrilled with what they see during the NATS T20," he said.

The Tournament Director thanked the following members of NATS for their support - Madhu Korrapati (Conference Co-Chairman), Mohana Krishna Mannava (Operations Director), Vasu Tupakula (Sports Committee Chair), Raj Allada (Guest Relations Chair), Ranjit Kumar Chaganti (Co -Chair, Sports Committee), Chandrasekhar Konidela (Co-Chair, Sports Committee).

North America Telugu Society (NATS) is a non-profit national organization for Telugus living in North America. NATS primary objective is to address the needs and concerns that affect the everyday lives of Telugu people living in North America. The Society provides needed social, financial and educational support services to the North American Telugu community in an effective and efficient manner.