Dubai: UAE all-rounder Mohammad Naveed has won praise from Darren Sammy, the two-time World T20 Cup winning captain, who also recently captained Peshawar Zalmi to victory in the Pakistan Super League. Naveed, who got to play in the Hong Kong Twenty20 Blitz, impressed Sammy with his pace and fitness.
In a video, now posted by Naveed in his Facebook page, Sammy remarked: “I am with my buddy Naveed. He is a very good cricketer from UAE and I urge everyone to look out for this cricketer. Somebody needs to help him get into leagues so you can see his talent. He is extremely talented.”
Speaking to Gulf News, before taking off from airport to Dubai after a creditable show in the Hong Kong Twenty20 Blitz, Naveed said: “It was indeed a special feeling to play with Sammy, Johan Botha and James Franklyn. It has given a big boost to my confidence. All the four teams I played against had very famous international players like Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith. Naveed was picked to play for Hung Hom JD Jaguars.
“I am happy that I was considered to play in this tournament and I am happy that I picked some good wickets. I got lot of encouragement from some of the top cricketers.”
In the match against Hong Kong Island United, Naveed trapped England’s Ian Bell leg before and then clean bowled Samuel Badree with his pace. From his four overs, Naveed gave away just 29 runs while taking two wickets. In this match he witnessed Misbah hit six consecutive sixers against his team during the course of his knock of 82 while steering Hong Kong to a 33-run victory. Misbah hit Naveed’s teammate Imran Arif for two consecutive sixes and in the last over from the second ball he faced off Ashley Caddy, he hit four sixes.
Naveed batting down the order even hit a six off Tanveer Ahmad before being run out for 10 against Kowloon Cantos. In the match against City Kaitak, Naveed showed his agility as a fielder taking a brilliant catch of Tillakaratne Dilshan and taking the wickets of Scotland’s experienced batsman Kyle Coetzer and Hong Kong’s Aizaz Khan. The tournament was won by Kowloon Cantons.
Naveed had caught the attention of UAE selectors through his dedicated hard work. He used to commute from Ras Al Khaimah to Dubai just to attend net and training sessions. Twenty-nine-year-old Naveed has represented UAE in 18 One Day Internationals and 19 Twenty20 International matches. In the 2015 World Cup against South Africa, Naveed went out to bat telling his coach Aaqib Javed that he will hit Dale Steyn for a six and did it with the second ball lifting Steyn over long on.
