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Sharjah: After a gap of 18 years, a domestic cricket tournament that faded into oblivion will commence again from today at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Sunil Gavaskar, one of the legends of the game and former Indian captain, will set the ball rolling by inaugurating this tournament. The cricketers from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka living in UAE, will clash to prove their supremacy.
This tournament which is being organised by the Emirates Cricket Board is called the Alam Steel Four-Nation tournament and is being sponsored by Shyam Bhatia, an ardent cricket lover and businessman.
Strong team
Naeemuddin Aslam is the captain of the Emirates India team.
"We have such a strong 18 member team that it is really difficult to pick the final eleven.
"It is so strong that even on a bad day this team can do well," remarked a confident Aslam to Gulf News.
Equally confident is UAE skipper Saqib Ali, who is captaining the Pakistan team. "We have almost all the top players of the UAE national team.
"They are the most consistent performers in UAE domestic cricket.
"We have a strong allround team with Khurram Khan and Arshad Ali leading the way," said Ali, who is in brilliant form.
Emirates India has about five Ranji Trophy players. "Not only batting and bowling but our fielding will also be agile.
"We have a great combination," added Aslam. Pakistan has some of the most hard-hitting batsmen led by Shaiman Anwar, who has hit nearly 100 sixes in domestic cricket.
"We want this tournament to live up to its past glory and has decided to make it the most glamorous domestic tournament by inviting Gavaskar to inspire the cricketers," Bhatia said.
Teams and fixtures
Emirates India: Naeemuddin Aslam (Captain), Bakhtiyar Palekar, Prashanth Braggs, Vikranth Shetty, Syed Maqsood, Piyush Maloo, Nithin Gopalkrishna, Mukhtar Kadri, Ojas Mehta, CTK Mashood, Swapnil Patil, Nigel D'Souza, Jayaprakash Shetty, Zaheer Mahamood, Devendra Taneja, Yasin Sikander, Jarnail Singh, Ravi Verma. Standbys: Adnan Ul Mulk, Arjun Lamba and Umair Peshimam.
Emirates Pakistan: Saqib Ali (captain), Khurram Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Rehman, Amjad Ali, Arshad Ali, Azhar Gul, Fayaz Ahmad, Haroon Iftikhar, Naeem Ullah, Nasir Aziz, Owais Hameed, Sajjad Ahmad, Shaiman, Kashif Butt, Mohammad Kashif, Sharif Asadullah, Amjad Javid and Zahid Shah.
Tournament fixtures: (start 5pm at Sharjah Cricket Stadium): March 25: Emirates India vs Emirates Pakistan, April 8: Emirates India vs Emirates Sri Lanka, April 9: Emirates Pakistan vs Emirates Rest. April 17 (start 3pm at Zayed Cricket Stadium): Emirates Pakistan vs Emirates Sri Lanka, April 24: Emirates India vs Emirates Rest. May 1 (start time 5pm at Sharjah Cricket Stadium): Emirates Rest vs Emirates Sri Lanka). May 9: Finals (day match).
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