Skipper who earned the double delight

Kashif Ahmed, skipper of the Consolidated Shipping Services (CSS) team, which swept both the Ramadan Floodlight cricket tournament titles in Sharjah as well as in Dubai, is ecstatic with the double triumph earned by his team.

"It was an excellent team combination. Everyone in our team gave their best," said Kashif, who led from the front to bag the player of the tournament award in Dubai and emerge as the man of the match in the final at Sharjah.

"Our batting was the main reason behind our victories. Saqib Ali stood out with some match-winning performances in Sharjah as well as Dubai. Even if our top order failed, the rest of the batsmen ensured a good score in the end. We have a batting strength which goes down well till No. 9. Our excellent allrounders are capable of rising to the occasion at the right moment," added Kashif, who took over the captaincy this year.

"Frankly I was under a bit of pressure after taking over the captaincy of this team which had won seven titles last year. I got good support from everyone and that made my task easier. I, too, could perform well. What mattered most was the support from all players, especially from former captains Mohammed Naeemullah and Syed Maqsood," he expressed satisfactorily.

"Another big factor behind our victory is the support from our CSS management. Kaladharan, the man behind the formation of our team, provides all facilities for our team. In fact, he has transformed our team into a top class outfit," said Kashif, who won the Shyam Bhatia award for the best cricketer of the year. He scored 431 runs at an average of 86.2 runs per innings in the Dubai Cricket Council tournaments last year.

Kashif had played for the Pakistan Under-19 team and scored many centuries in Pakistan domestic cricket. He started off his first season in the UAE with an unbeaten 99 against Dnata and an unbeaten 160 against Maklai Cricket Club.

Today, Kashif is also an effective match-winning bowler. He bowls off-spin as well as medium pace, as per the demands of the situation.

"Earlier, I used to concentrate only on batting, but if one has to be really effective in one-day cricket he has to be an allrounder. Hence I've sharpened my bowling skills too," said Kashif, whose bowling won many matches for CSS in Dubai and Sharjah.

Kashif also feels that he has improved his batting further after coming to the UAE. "Tauseef Ahmed, the former Pakistan Test player is my uncle. He is here as a coach and he is very critical about me after every match. For the Sharjah Ramadan tournament, he was the match referee and after every innings he used to come and tell me how I could improve further."

Kashif's aim is to help CSS continue to win tournaments. "Our team goes regularly on foreign tours and we are always performing against the best teams. We are also a good bunch of enthusiastic cricketers who love the game and always talk cricket. We would like to dominate domestic cricket here, like we did last year," said the match-winner with a satisfied look in his eye.