Four UAE junior cricketers leave for Sri Lanka today to play for the under-15 Asia Colts team, who are touring the island.
The four were picked from the UAE under-15 team which participated in the Asia Cup under -15 cricket tournament held recently held in the UAE.
Ramveer Rai, the captain of the UAE team, Rameez Shehzad, a good middle order batsman and medium pacers Qasim Zubair and Sufiyan Javed are the youngsters selected for the Asia Colts team.
"I am delighted to be selected in the Asia team. I will take full advantage of the tour," remarked Rai, who has toured Sri Lanka before as a member of Jairaj Thakur's coaching team.
"I played two matches during that tour and got two fifties. I hope to make some good scores during this tour and I am greatly thankful to the Emirates Cricket Board for their encouragement," said Rai, who has also been scoring heavily for the Indian High School, Dubai, in the inter-schools tournament.
Rameez, too, has toured Sri Lanka, but is feeling great to be a member of an Asian team.
"I toured Sri Lanka as a member of the Insportz coaching team. During that tour I played on astro turf wickets, which were comfortable for batting. I am looking forward to playing on the turf wickets, especially on the famous Test grounds," said Rameez, who is the son of former UAE player and coach Shehzad Altaf.
Rameez is a ninth grader at the Arab Unity School, Dubai.
Medium-pacer Zubair, who has an excellent action and was one of the most economical bowlers in the recent Asia Cup, feels that the Sri Lankan tour will be a great experience.
"I am hoping to improve further. The guidance given by my UAE coach Abid Ali was very helpful during the Asia Cup," said Zubair, who was initially coached by Pakistan Test star Tauseef Ahmed and Shehzad Alfaf at the Insportz.
Zubair's excellent performances in inter-schools for Arab Unity as well as at the Emirates Cricket Board nets won him a place in the UAE team that played Pakistan A recently.
Sufiyan, the six-foot-three-inch tall pacer, is also looking forward to the tour. He has reduced his run up of late and has been concentrating on line and length.
In the Asia Cup under-15 he performed brilliantly and in one match ran through the Thailand batting with a spell of four for 13.
Asia Colts begin their tour with a two-day match on February 3 and 4, followed by one-day matches on February 6,7, 9 and 12.
Gulf News 2003
