Sports
Coming from Gilgit-Baltistan, Riazat Ali Shah eager to leave a mark for Uganda at the T20 World Cup
New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) With its mesmerizing mountain peaks and countless glaciers, the Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan has gained a reputation for its natural beauty. However, the scenic beauty surrounding him failed to captivate Riazat Ali Shah’s attention, as he developed a powerful love for cricket.
He admired Wasim Akram for his personality and left-arm fast-bowling skills for Pakistan. He became a big fan of Kevin Pietersen’s fast and modern-day cricket during a time when T20 cricket wasn’t popular.
Now, Riazat, 26, is ready to play in the men’s T20 World Cup. However, there’s a twist – Riazat will wear Uganda’s yellow jersey as they debut in the showpiece event, with the all-rounder, who also bowls right-arm medium pace, serving as their vice-captain.
Like many youngsters in Pakistan, Riazat started his cricket journey by playing tape-ball cricket, where he had to bowl fast and bat against a tennis ball covered in electrical tape. After his success in tape-ball cricket, especially in hitting big sixes, Riazat started playing club cricket with the hard ball for Khan Eleven Club at City Park, the only cricket ground in Gilgit at that time.
When Riazat expressed to make a career out of playing cricket, there was a natural fear about it from his father Hidayat Shah, a pharmacy businessman doing wholesale distribution in the region, and mother Meher Nigar, a home-maker. Cricket at the highest level had never seen a player from Gilgit-Baltistan until 2015, when fast-bowler Diana Baig made her debut for the Pakistan women’s team.
“The parents had the view of me focusing on studies first, while keep playing cricket as a side-by-side option. I did study, but a lot of my focus was on the cricket, so I used to keep both running. But when I had tours of Islamabad, the parents allowed me to go for it for two weeks.”
“Once my performances began to be good, automatically the support from parents came. They also felt that ‘yes, this boy has something in him’, so slowly they began to be supportive and are now totally into it,” recalls Riazat about his starting day in a chat with his friend Afzal Jiwani, the recording of which is exclusive with IANS.
After a successful first year with the club, Riazat got drafted into the Gilgit-Baltistan U19 side. He would travel to Islamabad to play four matches, each lasting two days. Despite being selected for Islamabad U19 team due to his impressive performances, he had limited playing opportunities in regional cricket for two years.
At U19 level, Riazat played alongside Aamer Jamal, who took a six-fer on Pakistan Test debut against Australia last year. In search of playing opportunities, Riazat went to play Jubilee Games in Dubai, where he had a chance to meet with current Uganda captain Brian Masaba, then the skipper of Aziz Damani Sports Club in Kampala.
“He offered me a place in the club as they needed an overseas player for one season and said, ‘If you can, please come’. But I didn’t go in 2016 as my education wasn’t over by that time and I arrived in Uganda in 2017, and played for them for six months. The club coach at that time was Steve Tikolo, a legend of Kenyan cricket.”
“After I played my first game for the club, Tikolo said to me, ‘We have trial matches coming up and require some players. If you are free, then you can attend it. Since Kampala club cricket is mostly played on weekends, I had weekdays off and took part in two trial matches, as well as trained with the national team,” Riazat described his initial days in Kampala.
Riazat slowly started training with the national team, but then he moved on to playing trial matches and did really well. Uganda offered him a contract to play for the national team, with an aim to get ODI status and qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup, as well as to bounce back from previous disappointments.
But Covid-19 pandemic altered the qualification format – two sides from Africa qualifiers would qualify for T20 World Cup, with Uganda sensing an enormous opportunity to seal their qualification spot. Riazat, who debuted in T20Is and ODIs for Uganda in 2019, says the team focused on 2024 T20 World Cup qualification after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“To be honest, when we were seeing the 2022 T20 World Cup, we wished that next time it shouldn’t be Namibia and Zimbabwe qualifying again for the 2024 edition. The thought was from these two great teams, one should be up, while other one has to go down, as it would make things easy for us.”
“As a cricketing group, 80% of the Uganda players were together for the last six years and gelled along as a combination really well. We were very well-aware of who are the guys in the team who can be the best fits for us in a particular situation. The senior players in the team played games against each other, lived in the same city, so we knew each other very well, apart from the U19 boys being added.”
Despite the resignation of their head coach Lawrence Mahatlane in October 2023, Uganda approached the T20 World Cup Africa qualifiers in Windhoek, Namibia with confidence, relying on their strong bowling and batting abilities.
But the absence of two key fast-bowlers due to injuries meant all-rounders like Riazat, his long-term team friend Dinesh Nakrani, and Kenneth Waiswa had to shoulder a greater bowling workload.
“We knew if we got slow and bowler-friendly wicket, we can beat any team as we still had good bowlers and had lots of options as all-rounders. We beat Namibia previously, but didn’t play against Zimbabwe before – we had doubts against them as they were a Test-playing nation and had been playing well.”
“We then thought of defeating Namibia, but they were the hosts, knew their home conditions well and we lost to them. Our next game was against Zimbabwe, which became a do-or-die matter. But the advantage was, we had a slow wicket. Plus, the venue where we faced them, we had played 9-10 games previously and knew which angles were the best in terms of boundary sizes.”
Uganda approached the clash against Zimbabwe with a nothing-to-lose attitude. They were aware of the more high stakes in the game for Zimbabwe, who played in Super 12 of 2022 T20 World Cup.
“If they lost, they would have been out of reckoning for T20 World Cup. If we lost, it would have been like ‘okay, it’s normal and we will come back next year’. For us, it wasn’t much of a pressure game; we just had to go out and play the match,” said Riazat.
Riazat contributed 1/29 with the ball as Uganda restricted Zimbabwe to 136/8. In the chase, Uganda lost two early wickets before Alpesh Ramjani took charge with a 26-ball 40. With Roger Mukasa struggling, Uganda desperately needed a push to win.
Following Mukasa’s run-out, Riazat showcased his batting prowess by smashing five fours and a six in scoring 42 runs off only 28 deliveries, as Uganda celebrated an extraordinary five-wicket triumph over Zimbabwe. “When I went in to bat, I was thinking ‘Our target is 137, which isn’t a big margin between bat and ball’. The thought which came in was, ‘You stay till the end, as the team would easily win the game’.”
“After playing two-three balls, I got the confidence and things got easy for me. I stopped thinking that I was playing against Zimbabwe; my focus became to put the bat on the ball. With not much to separate between runs needed and balls left, we knew we could come back into the game anytime.”
“The equation soon became 18 balls, 30 runs and I hit 20 runs in one over, which got the game in our favour. I was waiting for that one over to swing the game in our favour – it came against Tendai Chatara and he was coming against the wind, which became advantageous for me. Then next over came of Ngarava, who bowled well as compared to Chatara, who was struggling to bowl on that pitch,” he elaborated on how he went his way to seal an important win for Uganda.
Uganda triumphed in their remaining matches against Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda, to seal their spot in the T20 World Cup alongside Namibia. Zimbabwe, unfortunately, fell short of qualification. The process, which started three years ago, had ultimately yielded the desired outcome that Uganda had been pursuing for a long time.
“It means a lot to me, especially considering where I have come from. Like, no one from Gilgit-Baltistan has played at this level of cricket. This is the biggest stage of cricket and personally, it was a dream for me – to play a World Cup. Plus, here, it was the dream for everyone for a very long time and achieving it was really a dream come true.”
West Indies, Afghanistan, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea are grouped with Uganda in Group C at the T20 World Cup. In the face of enormous challenges for Uganda in the competition, Riazat is eager to highlight his talent and the team’s abilities in playing against formidable opponents.
“If you are going to the World Cup, you need to win every game. As a team, we wish to do well and show to the world the talent we have in our side. Personally, I am keen to show the world what I can do with my all-round skills and perform well against the big teams.”
“Playing in this World Cup will open many opportunities for us – like, we can play in leagues all over the world. IPL is one of the best leagues in the world – personally me and other players in the team want to play in it as league-wise, it’s the biggest stage in the world. If I do well in the World Cup, it can propel me to reach the level of playing in the IPL,” adds Riazat.
The desire to meet talismanic India batter, Virat Kohli, is also on Riazat’s T20 World Cup wishlist. “If presented a chance, he’s the only person I wish to meet in the World Cup. His work ethic, discipline – it’s right up there at the top. I want to learn how he maintains the discipline and focus towards his cricket. The one thing I really admire about Virat is, how he’s never lost focus at any stage of his playing career.”
Being an inspirational figure for the Ismaili community is also on Riazat’s mind, as he feels it is the best profession to choose for the kids and their parents who share the same heritage as him and are keen to have a career out of playing the sport. He also has immense gratitude towards his ‘very friendly and supportive’ first coach Shalaique, who played first-class cricket for Islamabad and featured in matches alongside Umar Gul.
“For someone who was just starting out in cricket, you need a figure to back you. Otherwise, when you don’t have a person like that, you begin to feel that ‘maybe I don’t belong here’. But he said, ‘You play well; I will be supporting you’. He supported me a lot, especially in my bowling and taught me a lot of things about it.”
Riazat is also indebted to the support he got from the Aziz Damani Sports Club in Kampala, especially from CEO Siva Koti Reddy, fondly known as ‘Shivanna’, who helped him settle when everything was new for him, especially in food and allowances. He stays clear of the sport on his time off the field to get some sukoon (peace) and regain the hunger to perform well.
His off-field routine before leaving for a major tournament is a mix of gym work, and training two hours extra with coaches on his skills, apart from eating proteins and staying away from oily plus spicy food. Riazat’s long journey from Gilgit-Baltistan to Uganda has shaped him into a driven individual with immense promise to be a standout all-rounder for Uganda at the T20 World Cup.
“Whenever I come to the ground, I just want to be the best and be different from others so that opposition teams are like, ‘This is the guy who we want to watch out for’. Whenever I play, I want to be up there, always.”
“In five years, I want to be the best all-rounder in the world – just like how Jacques Kallis, Ben Stokes and Hardik Pandya have been. It should be that when young boys see me play, they got to feel like we want to be like him,” he concluded.
–IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 22 (IANS) Shivamogga Lions’ woes continued as they suffered a 28-run defeat to the Mysore Warriors in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Mysore Warriors delivered a well-rounded performance, anchored by Karun Nair’s (45) swift knock, supported by a few other good contributions in the middle order, and highlighted by late-innings fireworks from J Suchith (22*) and Manoj Bhandage (23).
On the bowling front, Vidyadhar Patil (3/29) and Karthik CA (3/31) played crucial roles in restricting the Shivamogga Lions. Sharath HS’ (4/29) lethal spell with the ball and valiant efforts from Abhinav Manohar (46) and Nihal Ullal (46) with the bat couldn’t turn the tide in Shivamogga’s favour.
Chasing 180, Shivamogga Lions got off to a disastrous start, with Vidyadhar Patil’s lethal first over leading to the dismissals of Mohith Bangalore (2) and Dheeraj Mohan (0) in consecutive deliveries. Skipper Nihal Ullal (46) managed to crack a few early boundaries, but Hardik Raj (17) was also removed by Krishnappa Gowtham, leaving the Lions reeling at 41/3 by the end of the powerplay.
K Gowtham then engineered the run out of Rohan Naveen (11), further denting the chase. The in-form Abhinav Manohar (Impact Player) joined Ullal, and the duo breathed life into the innings, putting together a 70-run partnership in just 43 balls.
However, Ullal fell short of his first half-century of the season, leaving the Shivamogga Lions at 123/5 in 15.1 overs. Manohar also narrowly missed his milestone, holing out to K Gowtham off Karthik CA. Manohar’s 26-ball knock included four sixes and three fours, adding valuable runs to the total.
Karthik CA struck again two deliveries later, dismissing Shivraj S and leaving the Lions in deep trouble. With 47 runs needed from the final 18 balls, Ashok D tried to keep the chase alive by smashing a six and a four off Vidyadhar Patil, but perished in the same over, effectively ending Shivamogga’s prospects. Shivamogga Lions finished at 151/9 in 20 overs, enduring their sixth consecutive loss.
Batting first, Mysore Warriors faced an early challenge as Sharath HS unleashed a menacing spell. He struck in the powerplay, dismissing Karthik SU (8), and then returned in the seventh over to remove CA Karthik (30), who smashed three sixes in a 34-run stand with Karun Nair (45) and Harshil Dharmani (0).
Nair continued in fine touch and peppered the boundary with six fours and two sixes during his 23-ball stay before falling to Ashok D in the 11th over.
Kishan Bedare (17) steered the innings, forming a 28-run partnership with Nair and adding another 29 runs with Sumit Kumar (28) before being caught and bowled by Bharath Dhuri, leaving the Warriors at 116/5 in 16.1 overs. The depth of Mysore’s batting lineup came to the fore as Manoj Bhandage and J Suchith launched a late assault.
Vasuki Koushik, tasked with the 18th over, began with a six and a four from Sumit Kumar. Bhandage then took charge, hammering three consecutive sixes off Koushik in the same over before falling as Sharath’s fourth wicket in the 19th ending a blistering 23-run cameo off just seven balls. J Suchith, carried on the momentum, smashing two sixes and a four in an 8-ball flurry, pushing the Mysore Warriors to a competitive 179/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief scores: Mysore Warriors 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Karthik CA 30, Karun Nair 45, Sumit Kumar 28; Sharath HS 4-29) beat Shivamogga Lions 151/9 in 20 overs (Nihal Ullal 46, Abhinav Manohar 46 runs; Vidyadhar Patil 3-29, Karthik CA 3-31) by 28 runs.
–IANS
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Castle Rock (Colorado), Aug 22 (IANS) Indian Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia who failed to make it to the Top-10 last week at the St Jude Championships, the first of the three Play-offs events, will be looking for a better showing as they move towards the finale at the Tour Championships after that.
Last week Hideki Matsuyama, after leading by five at one time, had to birdie the last two holes to win the St Jude Championships. He became the first Asian to win a Play-off event and it was his 10th PGA Tour win, the highest from the continent.
Last week Bhatia was T-12, Rai was T-16 and Theegala was way behind in T-46, but all three have entered the second of the three Play-offs events.
World No, 2 Xander Schauffele, a two-time Major winner in 2024, was tied second last week with Viktor Hovland, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was fourth last week, though World No. 3 Rory McIlroy had a poor week in T-68 place.
Among Asians Korea’s Si Woo Kim has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner tees up at Castle Pines Golf Club with the intention of breaking into the top-30 of the FedExCup points list and qualify for the Playoffs Finale, the TOUR Championship next week. Kim is presently ranked 44th after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
A strong week is also required for Kim to keep alive his hopes of earning a spot in the International Team to face the U.S. Team in the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal next month. Currently 14th on the team roster, the top-6 after this week’s BMW Championship will secure automatic spots, with captain Mike Weir naming six more picks after the TOUR Championship.
Compatriots Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, who are 10th and 15th respectively on the FedExCup rankings, are virtually assured of teeing up at the TOUR Championship, which will use a staggered-scoring format based on positions after this week.
Irrespective of how his week plays out, Kim is pleased to secure his top-50 status, which guarantees starts in all eight Signature tournaments next season.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The packed schedule of men’s county cricket in 2025 will remain largely unchanged, despite concerns raised by the majority of players over the impact on their physical well-being.
According to a survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) earlier this season, more than 80 per cent of players expressed fears that the current schedule is too demanding and poses risks to their health.
However, despite these concerns, the 2025 schedule is set to continue as usual. Each county will still compete in a minimum of 14 County Championship matches, eight Metro Bank Cup fixtures, and 14 Vitality T20 Blast games. The changes for next season will be largely cosmetic, offering little relief for players concerned about the gruelling calendar.
The PCA has been advocating for adjustments that would spread out the T20 fixtures across the week, aiming to reduce tight turnarounds and introduce more consistent three-day breaks between Championship games.
“There’s definitely room for improvement in 2025 compared to 2024,” said Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “The schedule can definitely be managed better. Certainly, the Blast was very much looked at through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Utilizing the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel, and preparation.”
The T20 Blast, in particular, has been the main point of debate when it comes to scheduling. The timing of the knockout stages has been a significant concern. In 2023, these stages were held immediately after the group matches in July, allowing counties to retain their overseas players. This year, however, the knockout stages will be pushed to September, giving clubs an extended six-week window to market and sell tickets for home quarter-finals.
While these adjustments offer slight improvements, the overall schedule remains packed, leaving many players apprehensive about how much more they can push themselves physically in the long term. Despite the calls for change, it appears that any significant reduction in the number of fixtures is unlikely in the future, with commercial considerations still driving much of the decision-making process around county cricket.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) After ending his T20I career with an elusive T20 World Cup title in Barbados, captain Rohit Sharma revealed that it was his dream to transform the team without thinking too much about the results.
Rohit-led Indian team ended the decade-long ICC title drought after beating South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 to lift their second title in the format. In 2023, the Men in Blue failed to win the World Test Championship and 2023 ODI World Cup under Rohit’s leadership after losing to Australia in the finals.
The swashbuckling opening batter also credited the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, former head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for their support in transforming the team and creating a fearless culture in the squad.
“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about stats and results and also to make sure that we create an environment where people can go out and play freely, without thinking too much. I got a lot of help from my three pillars Jay Shah, Rahul Dravid and chairman of selector Ajit Agarkar. That was critical for me to do what I did. Obviously, not to forget players who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we have achieved today,” Rohit said in a video posted by BCCI on X.
On Wednesday, Rohit was awarded ‘Men’s International Cricketer of the Year’ while Dravid was accorded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023-24 in Mumbai. India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli was named the ‘Men’s ODI Batter of the Year’ while on the bowling front, Mohammed Shami was awarded the ‘ODI Bowler of the Year’.
The 37-year-old batter finished as the second-highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup with 257 runs including three half-centuries and at a strike rate of 156.70. He played a major role in providing solid starts for the team on the slow pitches of the USA and the West Indies.
After lifting the title, Rohit joined Kohli to announce his retirement from the T20I. With 4,231 runs, Rohit is the leading run-getter in the format behind his teammate Kohli (4188 runs). Both batters will continue to play the other formats of the game. The duo last featured for India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
–IANS
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Gotemba (Japan), Aug 22 (IANS) A year after being the youngest ever to make the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Kartik Singh, now 14 years of age, is the highest ranked among the four Indians set to take part in the 15th AAC to be held in Japan.
As of date Kartik is the highest ranked Indian at 199 while the other three players to have received the invitation for this prestigious event are Krishnav Nikhil Chopra and Vedant Sirohi, both past participants in the event and Rakshit Dahiya will be in the four-player team.
Kartik Singh has also been named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup team. A regular winner in junior and amateur events, Kartik will spearhead the Indian challenge.
Apart from India’s Kartik Singh, there are seven others named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup International Team. They are Joshua Bai, Warut Boonrod, Xihuan Chang, Rayhan Latief, Khanh Hung Le, Thangwin Lee, Anh Minh Ngyuyen,
As many as 113 players have been confirmed for the Championship, which will be held October 3-6, 2024, at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Gotemba, Japan. A full list of confirmed players can be found. The field will be 120 with a few more names to be added by the Organisers.
India’s best ever placing has been second place by Rayhan Thomas, who was runner-up in Sentosa, Singapore in 2018. The Dubai-based Indian Rayhan has since turned professional, and last week won his first pro title on India’s Professional Tour of India Tour.
Krishnav, who plays college golf in the US, is the son of former India cricketer turned commentator, Nikhil Chopraa, who often takes the role of a caddie for his son.
Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), The R&A and the Masters Tournament to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.
The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament and The 153rd Open, while the runner(s)-up will gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
The confirmed list which has players from 38 APGC member organizations is highlighted by defending champion Jasper Stubbs of Australia and four players representing China inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking: Wenyi Ding (No. 4), Xihuan Chang (No. 36), Xiangyun Bai (No. 61) and Paul Chang (No. 97).
Ding finished runner-up to Stubbs in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur while Xihuan Chang reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in July.
Other top-100 participants include Vietnam’s Anh Minh Nguyen (No. 68) and Japan’s Rintaro Nakano (No. 78).
Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith. Over the Championship’s 14-year history, the Championship has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including Matsuyama, Smith, Cameron Davis, Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima and C.T. Pan. Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 130 across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
As the host nation, Japan will lead the list of up to 43 APGC member nations represented with 10 players in this year’s field. A player from Japan has won four of the 14 editions of the Championship (Matsuyama/2010, 2011; Takumi Kanaya/2018; Nakajima/2021).
–IANS
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