Three players who represented their schools in the ADIB NSL Cricket in partnership with OSN have been selected in the UAE squad for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament in Malaysia next month
Jonathan Figy (Abu Dhabi Indian School), Aryan Lakra (DPS Dubai) and Ansh Tandon (Gulf Asian Challengers) are among the 16 that will travel to the Far East after impressing Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) selectors during an inter-emirate tournament and a two-month training camp.
With more than 2,000 runs scored and 24 wickets taken in 36 games last season, ADIS captain Figy is delighted to have made the 16, having been overlooked in 2015.
“It’s a great feeling and I have been putting in a lot of hard effort in the camp,” said the all-rounder, who scored at least 50 in each of his six games en-route to finishing top run-scorer with 594 in last term’s Under-15 NSL.
“Training has been quite good and I feel over the last year, I’ve just grown as a player. The more matches I’ve played in, the more
experience I gained and I can’t wait to play for the UAE. The NSL is a great experience and it’s such an important tournament as it gave me a lot of exposure.”
All-rounder Lakra is the youngest in the camp at just 14, but has shown he is not afraid of competing against the big boys. He scored 115 runs and claimed 13 wickets altogether in the U-16 and U-19 inter-emirate tournaments.
“At 14, it feels great that my hard work has paid off and getting into the UAE U-19 team is awesome,” said Lakra. “This is the icing on the cake and will hopefully help me score more runs next season.”
Tandon also played in both age groups in the ECB event, scoring more than 100 runs. The trio will be captained by Yodhin Punja, who trained with the senior UAE team in the UK this month, with the ECB naming a well-balanced squad of pace and spin.
They face a stern test for the event, taking place from September 26 to October 8, having been drawn alongside Kuwait, Hong Kong, Thailand and Oman in Group B. The top two nations in the 10-team 50-over tournament will qualify for the knockout stages.
Waleed Bukhatir, ECB chief selector, is impressed by the talent in the squad. He said: “This will be a very challenging series of games, with all teams in our group evenly matched, (and) it is a very exciting time for these players to represent the UAE on the international stage at an integral qualifier on the calendar.”
The squad that will represent the UAE at the ICC U19 qualifying tournament is:
Yodhin Punja (C) – Fast Bowler
Fahad Nawaz (VC) – Batsman/Right-arm offbreak
Sachin Jha (WK) – Batsman/Keeper
Salah Shakeel – Right-arm offbreak/Batsman
Sushain Thapar – Batsman/Slow left-arm orthodox
Aryan Lakra – Batsman/ Slow left-arm orthodox
Mohd Ali Mirza – Batsman
Jonathan Figy – Batsman
Justin D’ Souza – Batsman
Ansh Tandon – Batsman
Karthik Meiyappan – Leg spinner
Krishna Lakhani – Fast Bowler/All Rounder
Shah Faisal – Fast Bowler
Ehtesham Siddique – Fast Bowler
Marlon Malcom – Fast Bowler
Rahul Bhatia – Left Arm Spinner
NSL Cricket season 3 will be returning in October. For more information or to register your school please contact bhavikmehta@sport360.com or phone +971 52 244 3906.