Rameez hopes to emulate his father

The UAE's Rameez Shehzad, who bagged the man of the match award with an entertaining unbeaten 54 against Oman in the Asia Cup Under-15 tournament yesterday, is keen to emulate his father.

Rameez is the eldest son of Shehzad Altaf, who played for the UAE in the World Cup, and is now one of the leading coaches in the UAE.

"I am happy that like my father I've also been able to represent UAE in an international match and help the team to victory, " said Rameez, a ninth grader at the Arab Unity School, Dubai.

Rameez has never played in any of the inter-school cricket tournaments so far, despite being an attractive batsman. "Until last year, I was in a school that did not have a cricket team. So this year I joined Arab Unity, which plays in the inter-school tournament. I want to do well there," he expressed.

Rameez picked up the basics of the game from his father. "As a kid, I used to go with him wherever he played matches. I always wanted to play like him. He is my idol," he added.

"I used to watch my father coach at the Emirates Cricket Training centre. Former Pakistan Test player, Tauseef Ahmed, too, has helped me improve my game."

Shehzad is now a coach at Insportz.

"I've toured and played in countries like England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan along with my father's trainees. His biggest advice has been to learn to stay at the wicket and that's what I did today. I stayed at the wicket and runs began to come in," he said.

Rameez now aims to get big scores in domestic cricket and go on to represent the UAE senior team in international matches, like his father.

Altaf was an outstanding allrounder during his playing days. He was one of the most economical bowlers in the 1996 World Cup for UAE.

Though Rameez bats at No.6, Altaf used to bat even lower down at No.8 and still score centuries. Once Altaf hit three centuries batting at No.8.

Altaf is pleased that Rameez shows a lot of interest and works hard. He is also hopeful that under UAE team coach Abid Ali, Rameez will continue to improve.