Sunday, Apr 28, 2013
Dubai Shams Ullah, the captain of the Emirates Cricket Training (ECT), Dubai believes in leading by example. Ullah, an opener, has cracked two consecutive centuries in the Cricket for Care Under-15 Inter Academy tournament sponsored by Shyam Bhatia and held under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council at 7he Sevens ground.
Ullah cracked 110 against Emirates Cricket Training, Sharjah and followed it up with a knock of 105 runs against G Force Cricket Academy.
Speaking to Gulf News, Kashif Ahmad, the coach of the ECT Dubai said: “We are proud of Shams’ (Ullah) knocks. He is a fine batsman with excellent strokes and is our consistent scorer.”
Ullah has a taken a leaf out of his coach’s approach to cricket. Ahmad, who had represented the UAE national team and still plays in domestic tournaments, is known for his longevity as a cricketer - he was adjudged Cricketer of the Year in the Dubai Cricket Council’s Shyam Bhatia award in 2001 and went on to win the best batsman award a decade later in 2010.
Ahmad prefers to speak about his student Ullah than himself. “The reason behind Ullah’s consistency is his ability to play ground shots. He picks the gaps beautifully and refuses to hit the ball in the air. He also prefers to play with a straight bat,” said Ahmad, who is the cousin of former Pakistan Test star Tauseef Ahmad.
Ullah’s 110 against ECT Dubai came off 67 balls with no sixers but 15 well timed boundaries. ECT Dubai had earlier restricted ECT Sharjah to 153 for 5 in 25 overs despite Rahul Babu top scoring with 40 runs. Hasnain Ali picked three wickets for 28 runs with Ullah chipping in with one wicket too. Chasing the total, ECT Sharjah, riding on Ullah’s knock won the match in 21.1 overs.
Brief scores: ECT Sharjah bt ECT Dubai by 8 wkts. ECT Dubai 153 for 5 in 25 overs (Rahul Babu 40, Inayat 34, Varun Shankar 25, Osama 22; Hasnain Ali 3 for 28) ECT Sharjah 154 for 2 in 21.1 overs (Shams Ullah 110). Man of the Match: Shams Ullah.
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
