• Home
• /
• Cricket

Fly Emirates eye another title

DUBAI — The reigning Emirates Airline Twenty20 champions are confident of defending their title with the calibre of the competition spurring them on to even greater heights.

That’s the view of Fly Emirates XI’s wicketkeeper/manager Shoeb Muljiani, who helped guide his talented team of Emirates employees to a shock success in the inaugural tournament last year.

The task at hand this time around looks considerably tougher though, with English counties Durham, Nottinghamshire and Sussex, along with a Sourav Ganguly-captained Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) outfit, each potentially barring the pathway to back-to-back glory. But, Muljiani insists the hard challenges ahead shall bring out the best in his players, who begin their bid to retain the trophy against Durham at 7he Sevens ground on Thursday at 4pm in a preliminary game not open to the public.

“We are extremely excited with a couple of new county teams that are coming here this year,” said Muljiani.

“We’re the defending champions, so we need to live up to those expectations. But, more importantly, the boys are very keen because this is a wonderful opportunity to rub shoulders with the professionals, so we should do well.

“The boys are feeling good to go. When you’ve held the title for the first year, you should be performing to that standard.

“Thus, there is a bit of pressure and we aren’t professional, so that adds a bit more coming up against the big names.

“But, we’re about three quarters of the way through our season, so we have been practising regularly.”

The newly-laid conditions at the crease seemingly suited Fly Emirates’ bowling attack in 2010, yet there can be no such reservations 12 months down the line, with Muljiani adding: “On both the grounds at 7he Sevens, the outfield is superb. “The wicket is coming up excellently. There’s a good bounce — and carry — on the wicket. “It looks to be a good track and we should have some very exciting cricket.”