Four young spinners in Dubai got a golden opportunity to work on their craft under the watchful eyes of Pakistan spin icon Saeed Ajmal at Kings’ School, Al Barsha, on Friday.
The Saeed Ajmal International Cricket Academy (SAICA) was in Dubai over the weekend as part of their player development programme and took part in the Kings’ Cup Dubai clash with Kings Cricket Academy.
While SAICA won the game by 87 runs, it was all about the experience for the young kids of Kings’ Cricket Academy.
More importantly, it was a dream come true for Kings’ spinners Hamad Arshad, Chris Sequiera, Raunak Vaswani and Lovepreet Singh who got to pick the brains of Ajmal.
“Ajmal himself volunteered to work with our spinners after watching them train before the game. After the match was over, he spent half an hour with them working on just their off-spin,” Kings Cricket Academy coach Ash Mohammed said.
For Mohammed and Kings’ Academy, it was more about learning from the best in the business. SAICA had some experienced players in their line-up like Khurram Shahzad – who scored a century on Friday – and Ajmal who decided to bowl in the match.
“Ajmal not only bowled in the match, but he also bowled every variation he had. It was a great learning experience for our players.
“Winning or losing becomes less important when we see kids showcase their talent and confidence to perform at the best of their ability while still looking to improve,” the coach added.
For the record, SAICA posted 368-8 in their 30 overs with Shahzad scoring a ton. KCA made a spirited reply in the chase, reaching 281 before being bowled out in 20.1 overs with captain Hamad Arshad scoring 46. SAICA won the match by 87 runs. In fact, Arshad also got Ajmal out on the first ball of the first innings.
