Kerala / Dubai, UAE :
Ali Shan Sharafu smashes first century in the format in the country.
Dubai
Ali Shan Sharafu has a penchant for records, it seems and he seems to be making it a habit.
The 17-year-old, one of the UAE’s rising stars, smashed a century to set a new record in T10 cricket in the UAE.
Sharafu, who has represented the UAE at the Under-19 level and also the senior National team, conjured a ruthless 146 from just 42 deliveries, during which he hit 14 sixes and 11 boundaries.
The knock came about in the Ajman T10 Talent Hunt League at the Eden Garden Ajman while representing Pacific Goltay against Spartan.
And Sharafu, who played in the Under-19 World Cup held in South Africa this year, became the first centurion in the format in the UAE. He eclipsed big-hitting Australian Chris Lynn’s mark of 91 from just 30 balls, scoring for the Maratha Arabians against Team Abu Dhabi in the Abu Dhabi T10 League last season.
Sharafu broke his own record in the Under-19 UAE Academy League last month. The Cricket School Of Excellence pupil had cracked 155 against Maxtalent Cricket Academy to put the 151 he had scored against Young Talents Cricket Academy in 2018, to shade.
“It feels really, really nice to have another record,” Sharafu told the Khaleej Times on Friday.
“I actually never imagined that someone could get to a 100 in T10 because the highest in the format was 91 by Chris Lynn. So, I thought that would be the maximum a batsman could get to,” he added.
Sharafu said that his approach to T10 was similar to other formats but added that the batsman had to be in attacking mode from the first ball.
“It was a challenge at the start. It is such a short format and you have to get going from ball one. I always try to be an aggressive batsman so there is nothing changing in the approach but it is just that you have less time to react in a T10 game than other formats,” felt Sharafu.
The Ajman T10 Talent Hunt League, held under the auspices of the Ajman Cricket Council, will see the top performers being referred to the Players Management Council of the Abu Dhabi T10 League. The League is scheduled to be held from January 28, 2021 to February 6.
And Sharafu is hoping for an opportunity to rub shoulders with international stars to aid his cricketing journey.
“It will be really exciting to get an opportunity and you will get to learn from them, just sharing a dressing room with such big names. This is the stepping stone and this is where I wanted to be at,” said Sharafu.
james@khaleejtimes.com
source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> Sports> Cricket / by James Jose / December 04th, 2020