After the roaring success of its inaugural edition last year, the second season of the NEOM x Rajasthan Royals cricket tournament kicked off in July this year in Saudi Arabia with a total of 720 players, representing 12 nationalities, participating in the opening two months.

In 2023, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Royals and their Principal Partner NEOM saw the launch of the first-ever Workforce Engagement Programme in the northwest region of Saudi Arabia.

As part of the programme, a specially curated cricket tournament brought together over 750 employees from 57 organisations and 17 nationalities. Team OSAIMI emerged as the champions of the inaugural season.

This year’s tournament expects to draw even larger participation, with 720 players from 12 nationalities in action in the first two months alone.

All the teams competing in the second edition were divided into four large groups: Yellow, Green, Blue and Pink. In July, Group Yellow was in action followed by Group Green in August. Group Blue and Group Pink will play in the subsequent months.

The best four teams from each group will make it to the Super 16s, which will then lead into the knockouts. The grand finale is slated to take place in December.

July Highlights: A tale of high scores

Group Yellow included 16 teams split into four groups. Around 280 players from 64 companies, representing 12 nationalities, took part in 28 matches over the course of the month.

The opening week saw the Gold Star team showcase exceptional batting skills to rack up an impressive 267/3, with just 10 overs against Team SATCO. In the second week, four out of the eight matches featured scores exceeding 200 runs with Mohsium from the Raptors stealing the spotlight by scoring a remarkable 134 runs off just 27 balls.

Weeks 3 and 4 also had their fair share of entertainment. The innings from Tamimi Sixers, who scored 258/1 in 10 overs against the Nesma Challengers, turned out to be the most entertaining match.

At the end of the Group Yellow fixtures, the Raptors, SSU, Legend Lions and 11 Star booked their places in the Super 16s.

August Highlights: Double century headlines action

Group Green featured 30 teams, which were further divided into the Trojena, Oxagon and Sindalah units. A total of 440 players, spread across 79 companies and six nationalities, participated in the August leg of the tournament.

The first week of cricketing action saw 12 teams going head-to-head at the Trojena Pioneer Camp. The biggest match of the week belonged to Mountain Eagles who scored a splendid 232/2 from 10 overs to defeat the Mountain Tigers. But the star of the show turned out to be Hamza Azam, who scored a colossal 207 runs off just 58 balls to take his team over the boundary.

Thereafter, 12 teams from Oxagon took to the field at the Oxagon Pioneer Camp. The major highlights of the week were that five players from the Saudi Arabia National Team participated for the Tabuk Tigers, showing the growing importance of the tournament. It also saw the attendance of over 400+ spectators, who came in to enjoy the cricket on display.

The Group Green fixtures ended with the Sindalah unit, which featured six teams. It turned out to be a week of great cricketing displays. Noor Ghalib, who scored an astonishing 188 runs in just six overs, was the standout performer of the week.

This was the first time that the tournament was hosted in the Sindalah and Trojena regions of NEOM, as well as the grounds at Oxagon - a reimagined industrial city in NEOM, which led to a wider interest in the initiative. At its peak, nearly 500 people were in attendance at the ground, watching the players in action.

At the end of the Group Green fixtures, the Mountain Eagles, Tabuk Tigers, Scorpions and EBC 11 Star Duba stamped their names in the Super 16s.

More than a tournament, this groundbreaking initiative underscores NEOM and Rajasthan Royals' continued commitment to bringing people together through the transformative power of cricket. It's a triumph that goes beyond the boundaries of the cricket field, exemplifying the universal spirit of the game.