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U-17 Saudi Cricket Team Captain Bilal Talks to ContactPakistan.com
An Interview by Parwaiz Imam
More Stories about Cricket U-17 Asia Cup
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RIYADH, September 5 – It was a historic development for the game of cricket in the Kingdom when through the efforts of Prince Abdulaziz Ibn Nasser Ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud and Sheikh Hussam Saleh Al Zuhair with support from the Saudi American Bank Speedcash courtesy of Muhammed Al Nahas, the TBS country head, the Saudi Arabian Cricket Board (SACB) XI participated in the first inaugural ICC Asia Cup Under-17 cricket tournament held in Karachi, Pakistan in which ten teams competed.
The event was significant for the fact that it extended the pathway for youth cricketers in Asia. It provided opportunities for a broad spectrum of countries to participate in a competition conducted under the auspices of the ICC development program thanks to Nasim Ul Ghani who was the brain behind this gala in which host Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia and SACB contested for the top honors.
Although, the SACB lost all their matches in their group against Sri Lanka, the eventual champions, UAE and Singapore but their sweetest moment in the international arena came when they beat Malaysia. This has really given momentum to the game of cricket in the Kingdom. This game is gaining popularity here and the expatriates from Pakistan and India have made a difference. Now the locals play the game with keen interest and a solid base has been formed. The leagues in Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah, Yanbu and Dammam are very popular and it was through their combined efforts that Under-17 boys led by Bilal Qureshi, the captain flew to Karachi. Sikandar Farooqui was the team manager and ever-agile Nadeem Babar, the coach.
The promising side which caught the attention of the ICC officials and fans who have never heard of cricket played in Saudi Arabia, consisted of Faisal Rafiuddin, Yasir Rafi Butt, Muhammed Junaid Hashim, Muhammed Rabie Zubair, Hashim Khan, Fahad Hameed, Mudassar Farooqui (vice captain), Waqas Mehmood, Muqem Ali, Muhammed Hamza Madani, Abbas Saad Nadvi, Jabreel Khalid Rana and Abdul Basit Butt.
It was really honor for Bilal to lead the side and even his father, Shafi Qureshi alongwith family members witnessed the matches throughout the course of tournament from July 15-25. Now at 16, he was born on September 23, 1984 at Karachi.
To gain first hand experience, an interview was conducted with this talented cricketer. Here are the excerpts from his interview.

Q1. When did you start playing cricket?
I started playing cricket at the age of eight. I was inspired by the performance of the Pakitan team in the 1990 Sharjah Cup and the 1992 World Cup, which motivated me to begin playing this game.

Q2. Where did you have your schooling?
I have done my pre-school and elementary at the Philippine Embassy school, Riyadh. I went on to complete my High School at the English section of the Pakistan International school.

Q3. What is your experience in the game of cricket?
When I was in Sharjah with my father who had an assignment there, I was selected to play for the Under-16 team of the Sharjah Lahore Gymkhana cricket club in June 1999, which undertook the tour of England. I was given the award for the Man of the Series. Here I scored 517 runs and took 21 wickets in eight matches. Soon, two months after this tour, I was selected to join the Pakistan Under-19 trials. I happily joined this camp, which was held at the Rawalpindi stadium. I attended this 17 days camp at the age of 16. In April this year, I played the Intercity league in Jeddah in which I was awarded the Youngest Player Award by Shahid Amin. Immediately after, the trials for the SACB Under-17 team started and I took part in the trials with full force and was selected as the captain.

Q4. What was your highest batting score in Riyadh Cricket Association tournaments and in the recent ICC Asia Cup?
My highest score in RCA is 40 not out for the Pakistan International Airlines. My highest score in the Under-17 tourney in Karachi was 39 against Malaysia.

Q5. What is your best bowling success so far?
I am a right hand medium fast bowler. My record here in all the tours starting from England all the way to the ICC Asia Under-17 Cup is quite satisfactory. In England, my average was 10-4-13-4. In the RCA tournaments, my average was 8-1-40-3 and in the Under-17 matches, it was 9-2-24-4.

Q6. What has been your most interesting experience so far?I have had several interesting experience. My most memorable experience was when I was selected to join the Pakistan U-19 camp. Secondly, when I got the Man of the Match award in the ICC Asia Under-17 Cup at Karachi playing against Malaysia. My other thrilling experience was when I got the Man of the Series award on the England tour.

Q7. Have you ever played club cricket in Pakistan?
No, I have never played any club cricket in Pakistan but I was selected to play for the Sharjah Lahore Gymkhana cricket club on the England tour.

Q8. What do you admire in cricket most?
I admire the one and only, the great Imran Khan.

Q9. What are your future plans?
My plans for the future are that I will work hard and try to find a place in the national team of Pakistan. I want to become a successful fast bowler and a good middle order batsman. In addition to that in my career, I am really interested in becoming an aeronautical engineer.

Q10. Do you have any suggestions for improving the game of cricket in Saudi Arabia?
I think that cricket in the Kingdom can be improved in a number of ways. There should be regular coaching sessions by professional cricket players. More frequent tournaments between regional teams in particular and gulf teams in general should be organized. Furthermore, the sponsors should arrange for turf wickets that would encourage us to practice. And this was the main problem for our boys, which we faced in the ICC Asia Under-17 Cup in Karachi.
The most important of all the sponsorships should be encouraged. This will provide us with a lot of facilities and exposure needed for the enhancement of our game of cricket. A good example of this was the massive support given by Saudi American Bank Speedcash for the SACB Under-17 participation in the ICC Asia Cup.
He also appreciated the great contribution towards the game of cricket by SACB led by Prince Abdulaziz Ibn Nasser Ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud – patron in chief, Sheikh Hussam Saleh Al Zuhair – president, patron Khaled A. Al Maeena – editor in chief of Arab News, Shahid Amin – chief executive, Abdul Qadeer Mirza – vice president, Sikandar Farooqui – vice president, Afsar Fahim – general secretary, Choudhary Iqbal – finance secretary, joint secretaries Asif Saleem, Iqbal Talib, Zahid Ali and Abdul Jabbar.

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