Cricket might be big in Asia but its presence is hardly felt in the Middle-East countries. The BCCI, therefore, in its attempt to spread the game across the world.
MUMBAI Cricket might be big in Asia but its presence is hardly felt in the Middle-East countries. The BCCI, therefore, in its attempt to spread the game across the world, had recently sent a team to one of the most controversial and war-ravaged country in the world — Israel. The tour turned out to be both successful, and exciting.
Though there was fear in the mind of the players, they did not let it affect their game. They won all three matches against an Israeli team which had former South African players Jonty Rhodes and Adam Bacher in its ranks. The team returned home on July 17.
Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was initially reluctant to visit Israel as he knew the country has been facing a war-like situation for a long time. “Before leaving for the tour I constantly read the newspapers and kept a tab on what was happening over there. There was fear in the mind of players but all we wanted was to focus on the game and we did just that,” he said. “Once we landed in Tel Aviv, our apprehensions vanished. It was like any other normal city. It also has a great history. Apart from Tel Aviv we also went to Jerusalem.”
The 20-year-old said he was quite satisfied with his performance. “I think I did well. I scored 48 in one match and 75 in the other. The opposition bowling was not that good but the conditions were testing enough for us. The matches were played on astro-turf pitches and we have the habit of playing on normal wickets. But we adjusted very fast,” added Pujara.
The team’s captain, Jaydev Shah, thoroughly enjoyed the tour. “As there are many Indians in Israel, there already a cricket culture there. They had a good team and had players like Jonty Rhodes and Adam Bacher. Jonty also gave us tips on how to field which was really nice of him. Before leaving for Israel we knew what was the situation there but it did not matter to us as we were more focussed on our game. Overall it was a great learning experience,” said Shah.
Bengal batsman Wriddhiman Saha’s most memorable moment was his meeting with Rhodes. “It was great to meet him. We have grown up watching his fielding. He also taught us many fielding tricks. It was a memorable experience,” said Saha.
With cricket hardly being played in that part of the country, why did the BCCI chose to send its team there? “Basically our main purpose is to spread cricket across the world. Whenever our players have time we send our team to associate countries which will not only help our players but the game too,” explained BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.
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