Fahad Al Hashmi hoping to impress for Dubai Cricket Council and earn UAE recall

Denzil Pinto 12:10 06/04/2018
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  • Fahad Al Hashmi last played for the UAE during the 2015 World Cup.

    Fahad Al Hashmi admits he must seize his ‘golden opportunity’ and prove the UAE selectors that he’s worthy of a recall when he lines up in the Emirates Cricket Board’s (ECB) men’s T20 National League.

    Al Hashmi, 35, last played for the national team during the 2015 World Cup when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament on his right knee during his side’s 146-run defeat to South Africa in New Zealand.

    But the pacer, who continues to play domestically, has been given a boost after being named in Dubai Cricket Council’s squad that will compete in the inaugural ECB competition which begins later this month.

    The tournament, which will see domestic and UAE cricketers play for their respective Cricket Councils – Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman – is a chance for the ECB to identify potential players for the national team.

    It’s a possible route back for the UAE and Al Hashmi, who was one of two Emiratis in the World Cup squad along with skipper Mohammad Tauriq, is hoping to remind the country’s governing body of his talent that won him 21 international caps.

    “This is a golden chance for me and am grateful that the Emirates Cricket Board have launched this tournament as it’s an opportunity for me to impress,” he said. “I now have to prove myself to them that I can play at the highest level.”

    “I get the opportunity to play with the current international UAE players and I really think it will be a good experience me. I have to thank Dubai Cricket Council for giving me this chance and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

    “I really feel that I’m playing well and having been picking up wickets for my club Farooq CC. This ECB tournament is a big competition for me and I really want to go out there and show what I can do. It’s a chance I want to take.”

    Al Hashmi admits he does miss playing international cricket but hasn’t conceded that his chances of a recall are over.

    “I still have a hope of representing my country,” said Al Hashmi, who was a member of the UAE squad which competed at the Indoor World Cup in Dubai last September. “I can do all the things that I did with the ball when I last played for the UAE at the 2015 World Cup.

    “I keep in touch with the UAE players and (head coach) Dougie Brown. The team has been playing well and competition for places is tough but I’ll do my best in all the games I play to try and make this recall happen.”

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