The Bahrain Under-16 team slumped to a 10-wicket defeat against the UAE U16 side at the Eden Gardens Cricket Ground in Ajman yesterday but a team official said the tour management wasn’t unduly bothered by the loss.
Batting first after captain Aryan Ashwin won the toss, Bahrain collapsed to 44 for five in the 14th over of the 35-over game before eventually being bowled out for 88 with four-and-a-half overs still left in the innings.
Opener Abhinav Girish Vashisht top-scored with 26 with only three other batsmen reaching double figures in a dismal batting performance.
Needing just 89 to win, the hosts raced to victory in just 13.4 overs thanks to openers Rayan Khan, who scored 33 not out off 42 balls, and Yayin Kiran Rai, who hammered an unbeaten, 41-ball 46.
“We’re not really concerned about winning or losing on this tour,” Bahrain U16 assistant coach, Azeem-ul-Haque told the GDN by phone from Ajman. “We are trying different options with an eye on future Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Council (ICC) tournaments that are slated for the first quarter of 2023
“That’s why, in this game, we didn’t play our regular, first-choice players who played in the two practice games against cricket academy sides over the weekend. Instead, we gave a chance to the boys who didn’t play in those games, changed our batting order and had bowlers who bowled for the first time in an international game.”
As part of that reshuffle, Ashwin, who opened in the practice games, was dropped down to three-down with Akshant Mukesh brought into the side to open with Vashisht and two more new faces populating the top-order: Jugal Brahmbhatt at number three and Sunish Sunil at four.
“We’re exploring different players, different combinations,” Haque explained. “We’re trying to find one or two good batsmen for the future and some good bowlers as well. This tour will provide us with the chance to build a squad for the upcoming tournaments.
“That’s why, as I said before, losing this game doesn’t matter to us. We’re looking at what we stand to gain from these games in the UAE which is to find good players who will form the nucleus of our squad. Our main aim is to build the best possible team for the future.”
Bahrain will play the UAE again tomorrow in the second of the two bilateral games at the same venue before taking on another cricket academy side on Thursday.
Last Friday, they beat the Simply Cricket Academy U16 side by 124 runs in Sharjah before losing a last-over thriller by three-wickets to the Sharjah Cricket Academy U16s in Ajman on Saturday.