Bahrain were dealt a body blow ahead of their opening game of the inaugural, six-team Gulf Cricket T20I Championship 2023 tomorrow against hosts Qatar when star batter Sohail Ahmed was ruled out of the entire tournament after injuring his hand in a friendly fixture in Doha yesterday.
Ahmed, who smashed a 44-ball 66 not out against Malaysia in the final of the 2022-23 Malaysia Quadrangular T20I Series in Kuala Lumpur last December to lead Bahrain to their first-ever tournament win, split the webbing on his right hand while attempting to take a catch during a friendly game against Qatar and required four stitches.
“Losing Sohail because of this unfortunate injury is a big loss for us because he’s easily our best batter,” Bahrain head coach Bhaskar Pillai told the GDN by phone from Doha.
“I was really counting on him and hoping he would come good in this tournament. But he’s now out of the entire championship and that means the others will have to step up and shoulder more responsibility, including the captain, Umer Toor.”
The silver lining from the friendly fixture against the hosts – which Bahrain won by four wickets – was that Pillai and the Bahrain team got a good look at the Qatar side ahead of the game against them tomorrow.
“We’re not taking them lightly,” Pillai said.
“I know we beat them in the friendly match but they’re a good team, as good as us, so we’ll really need to play well.”
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE are the other teams in the tournament which runs for nine days until September 24.
The 14-member Bahrain squad arrived in Doha last Sunday, giving themselves five days ahead of their opening fixture to acclimatise to local conditions. They have had the chance, therefore, to practise on a proper cricket pitch with a grass outfield, something they don’t have in the kingdom where they play on artificial pitches with sandy outfields.
“Yes, getting here well in advance of our opening game has given our players the opportunity to practise in a proper cricket ground,” Pillai said.
“Playing on turf wickets with a proper grass outfield is a completely different experience from playing on astro-turf or cement pitches – the ball behaves differently on turf wickets, batting requires a different technique and mindset. So all these days of practice have, hopefully, helped our boys.”
Bahrain have a hectic schedule in the tournament and will play back-to-back matches twice with only a day’s break in between. After the opening game against Qatar, they will take the field again the very next day to face Kuwait. After a rest day, they will square off against Saudi Arabia on Monday and take on Oman the next day. Their last league match is against the UAE on September 22.
“We will need to fire on all cylinders, not just in the opening game but throughout the tournament,” Pillai stressed.
“Losing Sohail is, of course, a big blow to our plans and hopes but I am looking to Toor, Imran Butt and Haider Ali to step up and take responsibility. They’re all very good, very capable batters and have shown us their class before and I have no doubt they’ll do so again.”
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