Sri Lanka legend Jayawardene to present Shyam Bhatia awards
Annual ceremony to honour excellence in UAE’s domestic cricket entering its 16th year
The Dubai Cricket Council’s (DCC’s) annual Shyam Bhatia awards for excellence in domestic cricket will be presented by Sri Lanka’s legendary batsman Mahela Jayawardene on April 28.
Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and Chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), will attend the function for the first time.
This will be the 16th edition of the annual ceremony, making it one of the world’s oldest cricketing awards given by a cricket enthusiast through a cricket council. The function will commence at 7pm at the Shyam Bhatia Cricket Museum in Jumeirah.
Amin Farooq, the honorary secretary of the DCC, told Gulf News that, “Every year this award has been given away by a cricketing legend and that has given the opportunity for not only players but also officials to rub shoulders with the greats of the game every year.”
“I want the recipients of this award to feel proud and also inspired. As the award can be received from a legend [in the field] all domestic cricketers too have strived hard to become the best. Every year awards have been given away starting from best umpire to best school cricketer and even outstanding women’s cricketer apart from the best batsman and best bowler award in A and B division tournaments.”
This year children under the age of 16 from different cricket academies in the UAE have also been invited. Previous editions have featured legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Michael Holding Kapil Dev, Clive Lloyd, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Flintoff, Wasim Akram and Graeme Smith.