BAHRAIN’S budding young cricketers have been busy preparing at training camps for a tough challenge against some of the best teenagers in the Gulf later this month.

The U16 Bahrain National Team will be travelling to Oman to play in the Asian Cricket Council U16 Western Region Tournament starting on October 19.

Delighted executives of the Cricket Bahrain Association say more local youngsters are getting hooked on the game playing alongside youngsters with Asian backgrounds who were brought up loving the sport.

“We have a good mix of players and, out of the squad of 18, we have five Bahrainis. Our focus has been to include more and more Bahrainis and to develop the youth system here to localise cricket,” said Yasser Zafar, the association’s secretary general.

“If we look at the wider circle, where we had 30 shortlisted players from a 70-strong series of trials, there were 11 Bahrainis in that line-up. Out of those 11, five have made it into the squad, which is phenomenal!”

The selected players have been training four days a week for the last two months. The preparations started right after the selection of the shortlisted players from around 70 who attended trials four months ago.

The travelling squad is made up of Hamza Riaz Mohammad, Adnan Mushtaq Ahmed, Aum Umeshchandra, Ayaan Baig Khan, Shashank Shekhar Shukla, Wajahat Rehman, Haniel Asir Robert, Adeel Asif Majeed, Ansh Katyayan, Jayshnav Ravishankar, Aaryan Koul, Abdullah Umer Hayat, Rishabh Ramesh and Fazeel Ahmed. In reserve are Adbulla Mohamed Eftekhar, Hamza Murtaza, Hamid Mohammad Raza and Ethan Anthony Sequeira.

National Coach Mirza Azeem Ul Haque, along with his team, have been working on the players’ physical and mental fitness. Fielding, bowling and batting sessions have been going ‘extremely well and as planned’, Ul Haque has reported.

The players have had one-on-one sessions with the coaches along with targeted bowling and batting sessions, batting in random mode and practicing with bowling machines at various speed levels.

Along with the physical training, the players have also been provided with guidance on game sense, technical, tactical and mental strength conditioning that will likely be required during various stages of the competition. 

The players have also been playing scenario settings every Friday morning at the Alba Club and complete matches every Saturday morning at the cricket ground in Khalifa Sports City.

“The children are excited and ready to give their level best,” added Zafar. “We know we may not be considered the best team in the tournament, as the UAE and Oman have much stronger squads than ours, but cricket is anyone’s game. At the least, we are aiming to qualify for the semi-finals but that doesn’t mean we will not try to lift the cup - we believe, if our players perform, we will emerge as winners.”

Bahrain will play UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran in the early stages of the competition and if they qualify for the semi-finals, are likely to have to play either Oman or Kuwait. Bahrain were ranked fourth in the previous tournament out of eight teams.

Win, lose or draw, he is convinced Bahrain’s representatives will gain much from the experience. “The children indeed learn a lot when they travel for such events,” said Zafar. “Normally before they travel, they are issued a guide on how to prepare, such as what should be included in luggage and what should not. They are taught discipline and how to function along with their teammates. 

“For some of the kids, it’s their first time travelling without the parents, so we encourage them to care of each other and support the coach throughout the tour as we in return support them. Secondly, it’s also a moment of pride for the children as they are representing their country at a national level.

“Taking part in the tournament will always provide lifetime memories and this will not only assist them in their coming sporting activities but also on a professional level in the future.”

The pools are: Group A – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran

Group B – Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives

Each team will play the others in their pool in 35-over round-robin matches, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

The tournament takes place from October 19 to 30 and alongside Ul Haque will be manager Yaser Zafar and physiotherapist Tahir Mohammad Ansari.

editor@gdnonline.com