Thursday, Aug 08, 2013
Dubai: Saeed Ajmal, one of the world’s foremost exponents of spin bowling, will interact with UAE cricket fans on Sunday evening.
Ajmal, who is in Dubai to celebrate Eid, told Gulf News: “I have signed up with Yas Sports as one of my support sponsors and hence will be visiting their shop and in the process interacting with my fans.”
The Pakistani star will visit the Yas Sports shop in Karama, which is located near the Fish Market. Bilal Shaikh, the owner of Yasin International Trading, said: “It is a great honour to have Ajmal with us. He will speak to our customers about the new deal we have entered with him. He will be aligned to Yas Sports from now on.”
Shaikh was also instrumental in flying another popular Pakistan player, Shahid Afridi, to the UAE recently. Afridi went on to play in the Sharjah Sixes tournament.
“Ajmal is another popular cricketer among fans here, so we have decided to have him sign an exclusive deal with our cricket bats. Any sports equipment purchased from the shop will be signed by Ajmal on Sunday evening between 6pm and 9pm,” Shaikh added.
Though Ajmal entered the international arena only very late at the age of 30, in the last five years he has troubled many of the world’s leading batsmen. His googly and other variations have given him an excellent strike rate. And he will be back in the UAE later this year hoping to strike fear into the South Africa and Sri Lankan batting line-ups when they take on Pakistan on neutral venues here.
Ajmal has launched a cricket academy in Faisalabad. “I would like to find talents and produce good bowlers. I hope to expand my academy by setting up indoor and outdoor training facilities,” Ajmal told Gulf News.
The academy is spread over eight acres at Faisalabad’s Agriculture University and will cost around 70 million Pakistan rupees (Dh2.49 million). Ajmal will be funding most of the academy himself, with the Pakistan government also supporting him.
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
