Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) completed a double in the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) Inter-Emirate National tournaments for the second straight season and their remarkable success took Amin Farooq by surprise.

Two weeks after claiming the Under-16 crown, they added another trophy as Rahul Bhatia (3-26) and Mohammed Ali Mirza (2-33) starred with the ball to help Dubai successfully defend 207 and beat Sharjah Cricket Council by eight runs in the Under-19 tournament.

It meant they stood top of their class in the 50-over competition, which also saw Abu Dhabi and Ajman in action.

The triumphant squad were able to pick the brains of three former UAE internationals – spinner Salman Farooq, pacer Fahad Al Hashmi and batsman Qais Farooq and while Amin credited the trio, he heaped praise on the emirate’s stars of tomorrow.

“Yes I am surprised by their successes in this tournament,” he said. “There is a lot of strong talent in the UAE and that was shown by the teams entered by all four emirates.

“We had three former UAE internationals as part of our coaching staff because we still feel they have a lot to offer for the youngsters and everyone in the squad understood what was required.”

ECB will now select the best for a training camp ahead of a 50-over qualifying tournament in September for the Asia Cup.

While Amin is hopeful that some of the Dubai players have pressed their case, he emphasised it is the council’s vision in developing talented cricketers from a young age.

“We are here to promote cricket and there were some exceptional displays in this tournament from all the boys,” he said. “It was quite challenging but it’s something we all enjoyed.”

Dubai captain Krishna Lakhani,  18, who topped the batting charts with 246 runs, added: “It was great honour to lead the team.”

“We played well as a team and got some big scores and hopefully it will help me get selected to the next round.”