20.05.12

LIKE elsewhere, the passion, ambition, determination and team spirit is always witnessed whenever the Indian and Pakistani cricketers play cricket whether it is played at Lords ground or on top of the Everest and such was a scene witnessed at Kuwait Cricket’s turf ground at Sulaibiya on Feb 26, 2012, during the festival cricket match played between the Indian Masters and Pakistani Masters in commemoration of Kuwait’s National and Liberation day. The event organized by Kuwait Cricket was played in a great friendly atmosphere and a large group of Indian and Pakistani spectators had gathered much prior to the commencement of the match in spite of a heavy downpour the previous night which did not deprive the cricket-crazy fans of Kuwait a feast of good cricket. The Pakistan Masters led by Khalid Mehamood and spearheaded by batting legend Arshad Shams who at his good old days was rated as one of the finest cricketers to have played cricket in Kuwait. The inclusion of left arm spinner Iftekhar Ahmed and leggie Fazal Rehman strengthened the Pakistani team and a blend of old war horses to the likes of Sher Afzal and Ejaz Ahmed added more depth in the Pakistani line up. The Indian squad was led by left arm spinner Robin Peter and had the services of evergreen Javed Kaloo, James Lobo and the experienced Zakharia Kazi to have an equally formidable line up. Winning the toss, Pakistan Masters decided to bat with openers Arshad Shams and Dilshad facing Riaz Masurkar from the north end. Both played sensible cricket by mixing caution with aggression and posted 80 runs for the first wicket. On a rain effected dampened pitch, Indian spinners Robin and left arm spinner Aby George spun a web around the Pakistani batsmen and at one end Riaz Masurkar bowled superbly to apply brakes on the scoring. Dilshad was more aggressive and clouted a huge six to square leg and hit a couple of fours while Arshad Shams a much more classical batsman attacked the balls on its merits and played a sheet anchor role. James Lobo, Venket and Zakharia bowled well and contained the free scoring Pakistani batsmen. Arshad Shams exhibiting dazzling foot work and skills hit a magnificent 93 unbeaten runs with 9 fours and two huge sixes as Pakistani Masters scored 156 runs in 25 overs. Ram Mohan Menon did an excellent job behind the sticks. Robin was the most successful Indian bowler taking 2 for 38 runs. Chasing 156 runs on a slow track which was not an easy task, the Indian squad having done their home work well sent Javed Kaloo along with Robin Peter to face the hostile Pakistani bowling. Javed kaloo was at his very best from the word go and using his feet to the pitch of the deliveries played superbly while Robin rotated the strike. At the score of 56 and against the run of the play, Robin was run out which brought Riaz Masurkar who took no time in settling and exhibited marvelous stroke play to notch 35 runs in just 18 balls which contained 3 huge sixes in one over. Repeating the stroke again, Riaz was well caught at long on and Indian team playing with an eye on the score board notched up the winning run in the 23 over. Javed Kaloo striking with immense authority and style played his favorite square drive quite often and pulled and drove with awesome timing to score a scintillating 91 runs which fetched him the Player of the Match award. Asad Baig, Director General, Kuwait Cricket presented the winning trophy to Indian Masters Captain Robin Peter and also the mementos to Indian Masters players. Runner Up trophy and mementos were given to Pakistan Masters captain and team members by Mehboob Khan, Director, Women’s cricket. Player of the match, prizes for umpires and scorers etc were given by Riaz Choudhary, Taher Khan, Razzak, Arjuna Amaratunga, Rafique and other dignitaries who had come to grace the occasion. As part of Kuwait Cricket’s felicitation program to honor cricketers of the past for their outstanding contribution, great dedication and to commemorate the spirit of cricket in Kuwait, five individuals to the likes of Mohammed Yahya, Bader Muneer, Andrew Pinho, Kasim Hussein, Arif Hussein and Chris Amarasinghe were invited and a memento was presented to each of them for their meritorious service to cricket in Kuwait. Irfan Adil superbly performed the role of Master of Ceremony and Murali Kutticode rendered the vote of thanks. function Clickheretoprint() { var disp_setting = "toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,menubar=no,"; disp_setting += "scrollbars=yes,width=650, height=600, left=100, top=25"; var content_vlue = document.getElementById("main_article").innerHTML; var docprint = window.open("", "", disp_setting); docprint.document.open(); docprint.document.write('

[ Via: Arab Times Kuwait English Daily | Read more... ]