Latest news with #Jasapara
Khaleej Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman win Emirates State tournament titles
The Emirates State tournament was a glorious success with age-group teams delivering some outstanding performances. There were five teams in the tournament which was divided into three categories — Under 13, Under 16 and Under 19. In the Under 13 final, Ajman beat Dubai in a Super Over thriller after the match ended in a tie. Dubai took the top honours in the Under 16 category with an impressive six-wicket win over Sharjah in the final. In the Under 19 final, Sharjah emerged champions after winning the final by 22 runs against Dubai. These matches tested the skills and the temperament of the UAE youngsters who are hoping to break into the national team. Dubai's teams, guided by mentor Amin Farooq, manager Salman Farooq and coach Gopal Jasapara, reached the finals in all three categories of the tournament. Jasapara credited the Emirates Cricket Board's domestic cricket initiatives for the UAE's emphatic victory at the ACC Men's Under 16 West Zone Cup in Qatar recently. "The Emirates Cricket Board is conducting many tournaments for budding cricketers and that is why we have seen outstanding performances from the UAE Under 16 team which won the tournament recently in Qatar where they beat Kuwait in the final," Jasapara said. "This year's Emirates State tournament was very competitive where we saw some amazing performances from the five teams, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, ECB select XI and Abu Dhabi." Brief scores: Under 13 final Dubai 166 all out (Arush Kajaria 48, Eisa Shariq Divker 39, Prashasya Singh 21, Anay Wadekar 3 for 28, Saatvik Puranik 3 for 23) Ajman 166/4 in 30 overs (Advait Bhojnagarwala 58, Shreyansh Dutta 35, Yajat Kumar 48, Riyon Lobo 3 for 38) Man of the Match: Advait Bhojnagarwala Under 16 final Ssharjah 204 all out in 49.5 overs (Syed Rehan Thanveer 45, Sayed Ullah 39, Kyron Hubert 24, Anas Ahmed Sher 6 for 28, Nirmay Puthanveettil 2 for 35) Dubai 205/4 in 35.4 overs (Mohammed Shariq Lakdawala 76, Fazal Abubakr Farooq 51 not out) Man of the Match: Anas Ahmed Sher of Dubai Under 19 final Sharjah 292 all out in 49.5 overs (Noor Ullah Ayoubi 79, Ahmed Tariq 76, Rayan Khan 53, Anas Ahmed 4 for 59, Raheel Ali 2 for 32, Dhairya Desai 2 for 40) Dubai 270 all out in 49 overs (Akshat Rai 85, Liam D'Souza 54, Zainullah Rehmani 36, Raheel Ali 32, Punya Mehra 31, Noor Ullah Ayobi 4 for 52, Muhammed Ismail 3 for 39, Muhammad Umar Faisal 2 for 31) Man of the Match: Noor Ullah Ayobi of Sharjah U19
Khaleej Times
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
IPL 2025: UAE can produce players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi, says Dubai coach
In the blink of an eye, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Rajasthan Royals' 14-year-old opening batter, became a global cricket sensation. Turning a tricky 210-run chase against the formidable Gujarat Titans into a cakewalk for the Royals, Suryavanshi galloped into a cricketing paradise. A fearless approach, stunning bat speed and an incredible ability to hit the ball hard left the experienced Gujarat bowlers scratching their heads as Suryavanshi wrote his name in the history books as the youngest IPL centurion with a 38-ball 101. The prodigious talent from Bihar is the latest discovery of the IPL, a league that has also unearthed Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakaravarthy and Rinku Singh. Strong system So as the cricket legends made a beeline to shower the Bihar teenager with praise, the question that has crossed the minds of every cricket fan is — how does the IPL keep producing such talents in India? The answer lies in the scouting system the world's richest cricket league has adopted. Every franchise sends scouts to every part of India to look for new talent. In the cricket-obsessed country, Suryavanshi has proven that even a relatively poor state like Bihar can produce outstanding players. Now spurred on by Suryavanshi's meteoric rise, Gopal Jasapara, a Dubai-based cricket coach, says youngsters in the UAE also have what it takes to showcase their talent on the IPL stage. Power-hitting The most remarkable feature of Suryavanshi's record-breaking hundred on Monday was his big-hitting prowess — the youngster hit 11 massive sixes in Jaipur. Jasapara was not surprised by the baby-faced batter's ability to clear the ropes repeatedly. 'Where does the power come from? It's the timing and practice,' the G Force Academy head coach said. One of Jasapara's own students, Jaimeek Shah, hit 26 sixes in a club-level match when he was only 12. Jaimeek, who turned 14 on April 24, shares his birthday with Sachin Tendulkar. The talented left-hander is now playing for the UAE team at the Under 16 West Zone Asian Championship in Qatar. 'This boy is very talented. He was only 12 when he hit 26 sixes in a match against Desert Cubs. And mind you, it was a proper cricket ground, not a small one,' Jasapara said. 'Everyone was surprised when Jaimeek hit 26 sixes. But age doesn't matter when you have the talent and if you work hard on your stroke-play. He has kept hitting sixes in every match. And he has scored more than 20 centuries in age-group cricket in the last two years.' Come to the UAE Having watched Suryavanshi's magnificent knock on Monday, Jasapara invited Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians scouts to the UAE. 'Everybody has seen Vaibhav now, but we also have got good young boys like Jaimeek who can bat like Vaibhav. That's why I got in touch with scouts from Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians. 'I know how they go to different parts of India to hunt for new talent. Maybe, next time they can visit Dubai as well. You never know what they might discover here. Some of our boys can be the future stars of cricket.' It was not long ago that Aayan Afzal Khan, the 19-year-old UAE spinner, delivered a match-winning three-wicket spell (4-0-20-3) against New Zealand, a Test-playing country, in a T20 International. And Karthik Meiyappan, another UAE youngster, grabbed headlines at the 2022 T20 World Cup with a hat trick against Sri Lanka — with all of his three wickets coming against proper batsmen. 'Of course, we cannot compare our cricket system to India's. But as I said, we do have some very good young players,' Jasapara said. 'They are not at Vaibhav's level yet, but they have great potential. All they need is support and exposure.'
Khaleej Times
22-02-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
UAE residents feel helpless after last-minute ticket requests for India vs Pakistan match
As the cricket world is gearing up for Sunday's high-voltage ICC Champions Trophy clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium, it's natural for even the biggest stars like Virat Kohli and Babar Azam to feel the pressure. The stakes and the emotions are so high that even some legendary former players have admitted to switching off their TV sets to block out the noise ahead of the big game. Well, it's not just the players, even some UAE residents feel the pressure whenever these two South Asian giants clash on these shores. It's not the same kind of pressure, but it's a headache nevertheless as these residents — cricket coaches and administrators in the UAE — face a big demand for tickets from their friends and relatives. Inevitably, on most occasions, they are left with no option but to say no to their closest friends — people for who they would normally go out of their way to help. 'When it comes to getting tickets to India-Pakistan matches for our friends, we are helpless,' said Gopal Jasapara, head coach of the Dubai-based G Force Cricket Academy. 'People think it's easy for me to arrange tickets for everyone because I am a cricket coach in Dubai, but it doesn't work that way.' Jasapara then revealed that even a top former cricket official from India sent him a message, asking for four tickets for Sunday's match in Dubai. 'He was a big name in cricket administration in India once, but now it seems even he can't get tickets for his friends,' Jasapara said. Meanwhile, Tariq Butt, a former cricket umpire in the UAE who officiated in international matches at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, has once again been flooded with messages from friends. 'These people know that I have retired from the game a long time ago. But they are still asking me for tickets,' he said. 'The craze for an India-Pakistan game has remained the same. I remember in the 1990s, I also got calls from the Consulate General of Pakistan for tickets. We got them a few, but now it's impossible.' Mohamed Lokhandwala, a former UAE national cricket team manager, was stumped when an ex-India cricketer called him for tickets. 'He is a good friend, and we played club cricket together in Mumbai. Now he is asking for tickets. It's embarrassing when people like them also make this request,' said Lokhandwala before admitting that it has become almost impossible to get tickets online. 'I know a lot of people at our building in Dubai trying to get the online tickets, they got them for India-Bangladesh and India-New Zealand, none of them managed to get a single ticket for the match against Pakistan.' Mazhar Khan, general manager at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium who saw 'one kilometer-long queues for India-Pakistan tickets in the 1980s and 1990s, doesn't see any change in the situation. 'The demand is such that no cricket administration will be able to solve this because this is India vs Pakistan, the biggest rivalry in cricket,' Khan said.
