From 13 to 14 June 2025 in Saransk took place the All-Russian competition “Open Cup of the Rector of MSU named after N.P. Ogaryov in cricket” among international students.

The tournament was attended by six student teams made up of more than 100 international students studying at Russian universities: Northern State Medical University (Arkhangelsk), Tambov State University named after G.R. Derzhavin (Tambov), Ulyanovsk State University (Ulyanovsk), Penza State University (Penza), National Research Mordovian State University named after N.P. Ogaryov (Saransk). N.P. Ogaryov National Research Mordovian State University (Saransk).

Cricket is a team sport game in which victory depends on the number of points. They can be earned by batting and running between the wickets. In 2024, it became the second most popular sport - matches were watched by about 2.5 billion people.

Penza State University was represented by a team of Indian students:

"Despite the fact that the organisers invited us a couple of days before the cup, we were ready to take part and gladly responded to the invitation, because thanks to our cricket tournament among Indian students at PSU, the team was in prepared physical shape. So how can we turn down the opportunity to play our favourite Indian game," said PSU team captain Desale Devang.

The PSU team stormed into the final without a single loss, but won the silver medal and lost the winning spot to the Northern State Medical University team, which also won the 2024 Cup.