Dubai: Mohammad Adil Muneer is a young allrounder who is worth watching out for. In the recent Shreyas Memorial Inter School Under-18 cricket tournament final, the 15-year-old Grade IX student of Indian High School scored a gritty 62 against the star-studded Dubai Modern School but could not stall his team’s defeat. Though Muneer sparkled as a batsman in the final, it was his bowling that propelled his school into the final. He was rightly judged the best bowler of the tournament for bagging 12 wickets.
Muneer had earlier won the Man of the Match awards against Delhi Private School (DPS), Dubai and St Mary’s School. Against DPS, he produced a five wicket spell and also wrecked St. Mary’s with a six-wicket haul. This right arm leg spinner is an elegant fielder too. Playing for the Calicut Farooq Cricket Club in the Kerala Premier League, he was adjudged the youngest talented player of the tournament and he also represented Kottayam in the recent Kerala Cricket League.
“I got interested in cricket from a very young age. My father played the game and so I went alongside with him. I improved after joining Emirates Cricket Training (ECT) Dubai and got guidance from Shakeel and Rizwan Latif. I had started off as a fast bowler but Shakeel found that I bowled leg spin well and shaped me,” said Muneer, who during a tour to England with ECT shocked Purely Cricket Club with a haul of five wickets from four overs.
Muneer’s father C. Muneer, the Chief Executive Officer of Al Wafaa Group, flew him to Bangalore to sharpen his batting skills in his pursuit to become an allrounder. “I trained at the Karnataka Institute of cricket in Bangalore and during this period, my batting too improved. I also was lucky to get tips from Desmond Haynes [former West Indies opener] at the International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy,” said the well-built Muneer, who is particular about his physical fitness.
“My love for fitness began from a very young age as I used to go for Karate training every day. I know fitness is vital so I train hard,” he said.
Muneer’s favourite batsman is Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne is his favourite bowler.
“My aim is to become a good cricketer. Be it a batsman or a bowler I want to give my best,” he said.
Meanwhile in the Shreyas Memorial Inter-School event in which Muneer sparkled, Shorye Chopra and Kartik Dudeja ensured Dubai Modern High School’s dominance in school cricket was uninterrupted. In the final, it was Chopra’s 98 and Dudeja’s 44 that ensured Dubai Modern post 242 for eight in 25 overs. Indian High School was restricted to 142 for 8 in reply, despite Muneer’s 62 and Kunal Thakwani’s 31 runs.
Chopra once again bagged the Player of the Tournament with 293 runs and 10 wickets while Dudeja scored 299 runs to win the best batsman award.
