Palestine make bold calls for ASCON Asia Cup
After their loss to Qatar in the opening match, Palestine crashed out by 146 runs against a dominant Saudi Arabia side in their 2nd group game.
Palestine Cricket Team are hanging by a thread and face do-or-die situation in the 2002 ASCON Asia Cup, following two heavy losses against Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Coming into the tournament as debutants and playing their first International Fixtures, the Palestine Team were never strong favourites, and the odds proved to be against them.
Captain Anwar Mahmoud says to the press - "It is obviously difficult coming in as the rookies against a bunch of experienced teams in a major competition like this. The pressure of Internationals with the added pressure of a big tournament has not been easy on us. I have been given the prestigious position of leading Palestine, and though it has not translated too well in the competition so far, we will be sure to put on a much bigger fight in the upcoming games and defy the odds to qualify for the knock-outs. We have a few good guys on the bench who have been delivering drinks and this is the right time to try them out and explore our talent, give opportunities as it may reward us in the end.
Stating this, Palestine's Captain announced their 3 changes for the next game, which included Opening Batsman Hussain Murad being dropped for the young Adil Rafiullah, only 19 years of age, but brimming with talent and potential, according to the captain himself. Rafiullah says - "It is a great thing that the captain backs me and to finally play for Palestine internationally. I will hope to deliver my best and make the opener spot my own". Rafiullah had played the two unofficial FC games in Wales but has never played a single List A game for Palestine, and will be debuting.
An other change involved the swapping of keepers as Asratullah Gurbaaj is set to make way for Hafiz Ahmadi. Management's own words- "They are both talented wicket keeper batsmen. Asratullah is a bit younger but Hafiz also has experience, both are great behind the wicket and with bat so we just want to try out options to find our best fit for the format". The last change was Ibraheem-ul-Abbas, the all-rounder coming in for paceman Victor Jordan, owing to the conditions of the pitches in the tournament as said by the captain. "Victor's left arm pace will be missed, but the extra batting is something we need" says skipper Mahmoud.
The management says - "It's not wrong to take bold and strong calls when the situation demands and that is exactly what we need to do. We are a new, young, side in the International Circuit still in the mode of self-discovery. We haven't entirely figured out our best combinations and all of our players are talented and have their skill-sets. The tournament has not gone quite well for us but we are happy with how the boys are thriving under a level of pressure and experience completely new to them. We will unearth our best talents which is part of the process, and a few big changes in the XI will only help us get the best out of our squad"
Palestine play Pakistan on 21 November in Beijing, after which they take on Sri Lanka in their final group game.