Dubai: Waleed Bukhatir, the son of Abdul Rehman Bukhatir — who brought cricket to the desert in the 1980s, was an emotional man on Thursday night.
“I don’t know how to sum up my reaction really,” he said after receiving the inaugural Lifetime Achievement award on behalf of his father at the Shyam Bhatia awards.
Speaking to Gulf News, Bukhatir Jr, the vice-chairman of Sharjah Cricket Council, said the award is a recognition of his father’s vision that international cricket could be actually played in the desert. “It has become one of the most sought-after venues for cricket in the UAE today. Not many know that after Sharjah, my father had also promoted a cricket stadium in Tangiers in Morocco — making it possible to play cricket in Africa too,” he said.
The lifetime achievement trophy comprises of a small 3D crystal bust of the awardee inside a container and will be sponsored by Crystal Gallery. “When the idea of adding this award came up for a discussion with the Dubai Cricket Council, Mr Bukhatir was an automatic choice.
If the UAE today is a well known cricket destination and has played in two 50-overs World Cups, a lot of the credit needs to go to this man’s vision,” he said.
The 18th edition of the awards, meanwhile, saw the top performers of domestic cricket across all councils, including women and junior age groups, being honoured with trophies and cash prizes. Four umpires from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman councils were also recognised for their efforts and the awards were handed over by an elite gathering of Indian spin legend Anil Kumble, Abdul Rehman Falaknaz (Chairman of Dubai Cricket Council), Mohammad Redha Abbas (vice-chairman, DCC) and Bhatia himself.
Thanking Bhatia for his initiative, Falaknaz said: “We are the only Arab country to play in the World Cup twice from this region. We, the Emirates Cricket Board are very active in the development of the game in this region. Your contribution will encourage the budding stars to strive to receive awards from personalities like Anil Kumble.”
LIST OF AWARDEES
Best umpires
Dubai Cricket Council: Shiju Sam
Abu Dhabi Cricket Council: Mohammad Wahid Butt Sharjah Cricket Council: Shabbir Ali Ajman Cricket Council: Irfan Khan
Best Lady Cricketer of the year: Nisha Ali
Best Individual Junior cricketer
Dubai Cricket Council: Aaryan Lakra
Abu Dhabi Cricket Council: Anwer Khan
Sharjah Cricket Council: Ansh Tandon
Ajman Cricket Council: Shoun Roger
Best B division cricketer
Dubai Cricket Council: Abid Chaudhry
Abu Dhabi Cricket Council: Sunith Sampath
Ajman Cricket Council: Babar Ghazanfar
Dubai Cricket Council: Adnan Mufti
Abu Dhabi Cricket Council: Sayed Maqsood
Sharjah Cricket Council: Rohan Mustafa
Special award for emerging champions of Inter state ECB tournament Dubai Cricket Council Under-16 team Dubai Cricket Council Under-19 team
