Dubai: West Indies’ legendary batsman Viv Richards will present The Dubai Cricket Council’s (DCC) annual Shyam Bhatia awards for excellence in domestic cricket.
The function, which will be held at the Shyam Bhatia on February 21 at 7.30pm, will be attended by all cricket council officials, who presented the names from their respective councils for the only award for cricketing performance in the UAE.
Saeed Hareb, the Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, will be the guest of honour for the function.
Speaking to Gulf News, Bhatia said: “We are honoured to have one of the greatest batsmen of the era known as Sir King Viv. People dream to yearn to have a glimpse of this great batsman and we have been able to have him present at the awards, which will inspire not only the winners but also the coming generation of cricketers here.”
Bhatia has invited many budding cricketers to witness the top performers receive the award. “Young cricketers have been invited for them to get inspired and aspire to win this award. Every year we have managed to bring a legend to give away the award. Richards will be the third West Indian to give away this award after Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding.”
Amin Farooq, the honorary secretary of the DCC, said: “We are honoured to be hosting this award, which is one of the prestigious and long-standing award ceremonies in the game. It will be special for the youngsters and top performers to receive the award from Richards, who I consider as the King of all batsmen. To also host this function at the Shyam Bhatia museum where the history of the game resides is a great honour.”
Bhatia said that cricketers now aim for this award. “As the award can be received from a legend, all domestic cricketers too have strived hard to become the best. The awards range from best umpire to best school cricketer and outstanding women’s cricketer, apart from the best batsman and best bowler award in A and B division tournaments.”
Talking about getting Richards for the function, Bhatia added: “Richards visited the museum during the Pakistan-West Indies series. He was impressed by the history on the walls and the memorabilia here and accepted [the request] to give away the awards. During that visit Bhatia, pointing to one of his picture in the museum of Richards batting without a helmet, asked why he did not wear a helmet.
Richards replied, Bhatia said, by insisting: “I have never been worried about the bowlers, they were worried about me and so I never needed a helmet.”
The previous editions of this award have been given away by legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Michael Holding, Kapil Dev, Clive Lloyd, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Flintoff, Wasim Akram and Graeme Smith. “The fact is that three World Cup winning captains in Lloyd, Kapil and Ranatunga have given away this award. Except for Holding, who did not captain his country, all the others were captains of their country,” said Bhatia.
