Move over auctioned players of Indian Premier League (IPL). Fifteen People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in Kolkata have come together and formed a well-trained cricket team to take on a rare challenge — fight myths related to the disease.

Sponsored by the state government’s Family & Welfare Department and operating under the banner of the Thalassaemia & AIDS Prevention Society (TAPS), the cricket team will tour the remote areas of West Bengal to dispel stigmas attached with the disease.

And the PLHA XI is making sure that their initiative isn’t just another one-day or Twenty20 stunt, if you say so. These sportsmen — 25 to 46 years old — have been training under coach Deepak Ashar in the gruelling summer sun at the Kolkata Maidan.

The captain, Rajendra Ray, spells out the idea behind the sport. Get a motive, stamp your presence. “This is not an overnight whim. We have been training hard for over five months. Through cricket, we want to spread awareness about AIDS and want to dispel rumours and stigmas. Many people still think that AIDS is contagious.”

Few can believe that Ray (46) has been receiving HIV treatment at the School of Tropical Medicine.

Sailen Ghosh, organising secretary of the project, gave The Indian Express a lowdown on the things to come. “This member team was picked long ago, from among the 106 members of the TAPS. The tour is long — August 15 to September 21. The team comprises efficient players, who were handpicked from a huge pool of PLHA cricket enthusiasts,” he said.

He doesn’t stop talking about the team. These sportsmen are gutsy. Despite undergoing anti-retroviral treatment, they underwent rigorous training, Ghosh added.

The team will tour seven districts, opening their innings against a local team in Raiganj, Uttar Dinajpur, on August 15.

The contingent will then proceed to other districts and play a match against a local team in each district, signing off in Purulia after 37 days of touring.

The organisers have also roped in prominent Bengal cricketers, besides securing support of the Cricket Association of Bengal.