The Comet Cricket Club celebrated after winning the National College Cricket Association championship on March 22 at the Prairie View Cricket Complex near Houston.
For the second year in a row, the Comet Cricket Club at The University of Texas at Dallas won the National College Cricket Association championship, beating Northeastern University by two runs in the final match March 22 at the Prairie View Cricket Complex near Houston.
The club was undefeated in its championship run, which took place in the second leg of the tournament and included 16 teams. Last year, the club was also undefeated in the tournament, which they won in the final match by 40 runs against the University of Florida.
The Comet Cricket Club’s roster changed significantly since last year’s win, said Firasuddin Syed, club captain and a
business analytics and artificial intelligence
graduate student.
“We only had five players continuing from last year due to graduations,” he said. “We had a whole new group of players, including three freshmen, who were very enthusiastic. The younger players are definitely uplifting. There’s never a shortage of energy.”
The championship games were not easy to win, he said.
“We really had to fight to the very last ball,” said Syed, who was named best batsman in the championship.
Although it is not an official part of University Recreation’s
club sports program
, the Comet Cricket Club has hundreds of members among students and alumni. Part of the team’s drive comes from some of its players’ hopes to play cricket in the future, Syed said.
“We have a few players who aspire to play professionally. This club is a good platform to perform at a university level. Many students who want to play cricket for a living would love to come to UT Dallas to play with us,” he said.
“We have a few players who aspire to play professionally. This club is a good platform to perform at a university level. Many students who want to play cricket for a living would love to come to UT Dallas to play with us.”
Firasuddin Syed, captain of the Comet Cricket Club
Some club members have played professionally.
“We have three players who have played professionally in the Minor League Cricket’s 2025 season,” Syed said. “I played for the Dallas Xforia Giants and continue to pursue professional cricket opportunities across the country. Ansh Bhoje played for the MetroPlex Tracers, and Rishi Ramesh played for the Baltimore Royals.”
Sathvik Reddy Bellamkonda MS’25, who served as club president last year and played on the team this year, said club members are committed and fit practice in between classes, jobs and other responsibilities.
“We practice in Frisco or Plano once a week,” Bellamkonda said. “We also schedule matches against UT Austin and UT Arlington to prepare for the national tournament.”
The club’s trip to the championship was supported by alumni, a fundraising campaign and the University.
Rafael Martín PhD’20, vice president for
administration and chief of operations
, praised the club and its accomplishments.
“The best part of UT Dallas is our students,” he said. “The Comet Cricket Club capturing its second national championship demonstrates that success in the classroom and success in extracurricular endeavors are highly correlated. We could not be prouder of this team and their achievement.”