General Brigadier Makki Salman Ahmed Salman of Dubai Police, who was the guest of honour along with Khalid Al Haj Nasir and sponsors Mili and Chandan Ahuja, with the squad. - Supplied photo
Fourteen of the top cricket playing nations and a few Associate members will soon be seen taking on each other in the Masters Over 50s Cricket World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
A team of senior cricketers from the UAE, which is being sponsored by Chandan Ahuja and Mili Ahuja of Falcon Eye Cyber Security, based in Dubai, are also ready to tackle the well-established tough teams in their group.
Syed Rafiullah who captained the Pakistan University team and who has participated in two of the previous Masters World Cup for Canada in 2018 and 2020, will be leading the Masters UAE team.
Supporting him will be some very famous and well-known players like Ali Akbar Rana and Vijay Mehra, who have also represented the UAE in the ICC World Cup tournament in 1994, whilst Khurram Khan was the skipper of the UAE side in the 2015 edition.
The other well-known members of this team who also have many first-class representations between them are Ambey Parwatkar, Biju Nair, Mohammad Shafique, Shahzad Ahmad, Tanvir Ghani, Narayanan Krishnan, Abhilash Devarajan, John Flory, Faisal Maqsood, Rehan Khan, Naveed Sehrai, Imran Qazmi, Asif Butt and Asad Rizvi complementing the squad.
At the capping ceremony held at Taj Dubai Downtown, Mili Ahuja, Founder and Director of Falcon Eye Cyber Security welcomed the distinguished dignitaries, celebrated guests, and the 18-member team embarking on their maiden journey for the IMCC Masters Over 50 Men's World Cup in South Africa.
“It is our humble privilege to support the team from UAE in their attempt to bring the Masters World Cup home,” Mili said.
“I choose not to steal the thunder away from this fabulous group of people who are doing all that is necessary, bringing together folks from different countries and cultures in the true UAE spirit and exhibit the same in Cape Town. Kudos to the team of over 50s who have largely self-funded this maiden World Cup participation. This, I hear, is the third and the biggest Masters World Cup so far, with a total of 14 teams in two pools of seven each. Wishing this team the absolute best of luck from me and everyone at Falcon Eye Cyber Security,” she added.
Chandan Ahuja further added: “I have been a banker by profession and a cricketer by passion. I am sure everyone here has played some form of cricket in the past, some more competitive than others. A cricketer, in fact, a sportsman, never lives alone. He or she has their mates and friends that they play with; and compete against.
“As a start-up ourselves now and as a gesture of one budding start-up to another, we extended our guidance and support to this brilliant Masters Over 50s cricket team.”
General Brigadier Makki Salman Ahmed Salman of Dubai Police was the guest of honour along with Khalid Al Haj Nasir and he said: “I congratulate the team members and wish them all the success in this tough competition. I ask them to play hard but play fair and maintain the traditions of the UAE and keep the flag flying high for the UAE in South Africa.”
Mazhar Khan, the general manager of the Sharjah Stadium, who is a very, very senior cricketer and top ranked official in the UAE cricket scene since five decades, also wished the team all the success and to give all their best in this tournament.
Mohamed Lokhandwala a former cricketer and cricket official who was the MC at the function elaborated on the tournament saying: “Former international and first-class cricketers from India, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Namibia, UAE, United States of America, Canada and Wales are all geared up and most have already reached the coastal city of Cape Town.
"This beautiful city ringed by the scenic Table Top Mountain shrouded in white clouds is at the southern most tip of the world at Cape Point and will be hosting the Seniors World Cup with each team playing six games in the 45 overs format, designed specially for the Masters tournament. Top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, while the losers will participate in a Plate event.”
General Brigadier Makki Salman Ahmed Salman, Khalid Al Haj Nasir, Chandan Ahuja, Mili Ahuja, Mazhar Khan and CTK Nasir presented the players with their IMCC Masters World Cup caps.