May 1: For once, the executives won't be planning out their strategies in the narrow confines of the boardroom.

Laptops will give way to cricket bats, grid matrices to a 22-yard long turf and no... there will be no strategic alliances for a change.

Teams from the corporate world take on each other at the common battle-field of Kohli Stadium, Navy Nagar. At stake is the Mahindra Realty Champions Cup.

The Mahindra Realty Cricket 7s which began with the preliminary round matches on April 26, promises to be cricket of a different kind.

The first competition of its kind for the corporate sector, the tournament has attracted 24 entries, including ABN Amro Bank, Arthur Andersen, Barclays Group, Banque Indo-Suez, Cadbury, CitiBank, IDBI Bank and Tata Sons among others.

The league-cum-knock out tournament, which features 45 matches to be played in six days over three weekends, has been conceptualised by Sanjiv Saran Mehra, event director of Saran Presents.

Each team consists of seven members and is seven overs a side. Rules have been frames in such a manner that no player with first-class experience can participate. A team consists of management executives in various age groups between 25-30, 30-35 and over-35 years of age.

The 24 teams have been divided into three groups of eight each. Depending on their performance in the league stage, the teams will be placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their respective groups. The teams standing first qualify for the Champions Cup, the teams standing second play for the Salver, while the third-placed teams battle it out for the Bowl.

The final is scheduled for May 10.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.