DUBAI A Pakistani worker who earns Dh1,300, per month can’t believe his luck after winning $5,263 (Dh19,263) in prize money for taking a crowd catch in the inaugural match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket tournament.
Fazal Majid, 28, said he was unaware he had won a portion of the $100,000 purse as part of the Pepsi Catch a Crore Contest when he held on to a sixer by Quetta Gladiators’ Luke Wright off Islamabad United’s Mohammad Irfan on the opening night of the tournament.
“In fact I got scared when a volunteer came up to me and asked for my identity card. I thought I had done something wrong and that they might throw me out. Little did I know that I had won a prize,” he said, recalling the February 4 evening when the five franchise T20 cricket tournament kicked off.
First among equals
Majid is the first of the 19 lucky spectators to have taken a crowd catch during the 19-day extravaganza which ended on Tuesday.
“I had come to the grounds early to see the opening ceremony so I could catch a glimpse of my favourite player Shahid Afridi and my home team but since I had a ticket, I decided to stay on for the match,” added the man from Pakistan’s Swabi district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that’s home to the Peshawar Zalmi team.
“I was enjoying the match when I saw the six coming my way. I thought why not give it a try,” said Majid who bought a Dh20 ticket to enter the ground that evening.
Majid who supports his ailing sister’s medical treatment and his younger brother’s education back home said he will use the money to fly his mum to Mecca for Haj and buy some goodies for his siblings.
