Dubai: A bunch of passionate cricketers who refused to give up their love of the game even as they eked out a living working for small companies were rewarded for their dedication when their team, Taha Cricket Club, lifted the 2B Al Etihad Cup at the Zabeel Park Cricket ground last week.
At a time when top established clubs are closing down due to heavy expenditure to maintain a club, the struggles of Taha Club to keep afloat are worth emulating. The club was created in 2012 by Asif Akhtar, a civil engineer with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa). With no sponsorship support, the club competes in tournaments with money pooled together by all the players. Remaining unbeaten in the Etihad Cup, which was contested by 16 clubs from across the UAE, Taha Club defeated Global Distributions by four wickets in the final.
Speaking to Gulf News, Akhtar, who also captains the team, said: “Majority of the entrance fees for tournaments I pay from my pocket and some money collected from the team players. Financially our team is not good but performance-wise and [in terms of] discipline we are very good.”
The team does not participate in tournaments where the entrance fees are very high. “We have a budget of Dh28,000 a year. We use the money to compete in 12 tournaments, to buy two sets of uniform for 18 players and try and meet all our expenses. We usually play in Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Dubai wherever we find tournaments which are cheap to participate. We would love to participate in more tournaments but we are yet to find sponsorship support,” Akhtar said.
Taha Club recorded their first tournament win last year. “We won the Blue Deebaj T20 Championship in Ajman beating Memon Cricket Club in the final. We were sad to lose two finals. In the Mighty March Saturday League in fact, we had lost the final to Global Distribution, whom we beat in the Etihad Cup. We also lost in the finals of the fifth Aqua Pacific Trophy against Mangalore Cricket Club in Ajman. So winning a tournament in Dubai too is special,” added Asif, who was adjudged the best captain of the Etihad tournament.
Global Distribution had scored 145 in 16.5 overs and Taha’s Irfan Sajid, who took five wickets for 15 runs from his three overs, was adjudged the man of the final.
For Taha, Saqib Azeem and Salim A Rahim put on a 70-run partnership, with Rahim scoring 49 runs off 38 balls. Sajid, who took 18 wickets and scored 192 runs in six matches, bagged the man of the tournament award.
Skipper Akhtar, after receiving the cash prize of Dh10,000 for the winners, said: “We can use this money to play in a few more tournaments than we play every year till we can find a sponsor.”
Akhtar uses social media to highlight achievements of his team. “We have 11,000 followers in Facebook and all the cricket-loving supporters or players are our biggest asset,” he said.
