It is a season of sports in Qatar. The majority of expatriates in Qatar come from five South Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and they love playing cricket.
There are many community organisations and groups that organise cricket tournaments every year. The players, mostly blue collar workers, take part in the tournaments for the sake of physical activity, mental satisfaction and community appreciation.
Hyderabadis in Qatar (HIQ) is a community group of Indian expatriates from Hyderabad. The group is more known for its cricket-related activities than community activities. Recently, HIQ held the opening ceremony for its upcoming cricket tournament ‘Cric Qatar Champions League’ at Gulf Horizon Hotel. It is one of the biggest community cricket tournaments in Qatar. The event included various cultural activities.
The event was attended by notable personalities, including Srinivas Gadde, Managing Director of Dana World Contracting Company; Syed Hussaini, Commercial Manager of Al Rayan; and Mukarram Hussain from Medgulf.
Speaking on the occasion, Srinivas Gadde urged the expatriate workers and children to shun electronic gadgets and take up cricket as a sport and to take part in other physical activities.
Syed Rafi, Chairman of HIQ, shared the details of one of the biggest community cricket tournament with Community. He said, “This is the third edition of the tournament that will continue for nine weeks. Last year, we had 22 teams and this year we have about 40 teams participating. Each team has players from the five South Asian countries. The tournament will be played on league basis. The teams have been divided into eight groups. Every team has to play four matches at the league level. The top two teams from each group will proceed to the pre-quarter finals and the knock-out stage.”
Rafi said, “The matches will be played from 6:30am to 9:00am and then from 1:30pm to 4:30pm every Friday. We have two grounds at Barwa City, four at Al Wukair, two in Al Wakrah and two each in Al Gharafa and Ain Khaled, where the matches will be played.”
Sharing that how different this tournament is different from other such leagues, he said, “Usually, the entry fee is very high in other cricket tournaments. For this tournament, each team has to pay QR300. Further, we will be having live streaming session of the last three matches on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. For this tournament, we have also launched our mobile app for digital scorecard.”
“Cricket has taught me discipline, fairness and commitment and I want to pay back to the game by organising such tournaments. Qatar will witness more of such tournaments in the coming days,” he said.
Abdul Rehman, Captain of Team Emad, said, “I work as a transport supervisor with DPS-Modern Indian School. I have been in Qatar for over 10 years now. I am very excited because this year the tournament is much bigger and longer. I am playing for a different team this year.”
He added, “I am an all-rounder. Cricket is my passion. I have taken part in different tournaments but Cric Qatar is different because of the organisers as they continue to bring in and introduce technical innovations to the sport. I play cricket as a passion and for the sake of physical activity. I get to socialise and meet up other player members. It is a very healthy and productive activity. I see a bright future of the sport in Qatar.”
Vijitha Kusumasiri is a Sri Lankan expatriate and Captain of United Asian Cricket Club. He said, “I have been living in Qatar for over 20 years. I work as a project manager with a catering company. I am crazy about cricket. In my team, there are players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is very good to have such variety of players in one team.”
“Cricket is a part time activity. I find it very relaxing when it comes to my mental and physical health. Majority of the players are blue collar workers. Cricket gives them an opportunity to meet others and do some physical activity every Friday.”
INAUGURATION: Unveiling the trophy of the tournament.
