JCA awards CIT SPL T20 Tournament winners

By Aijaz Ahmed Khan JEDDAH — Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA), which conducted the CIT SPL T20 Tournament, distributed awards to the champion, runners-up and outstanding players at a grand ceremony here recently. The ceremony started with the recitation of verses from Holy Qur’an. A. A. Merchant welcomed guests Naser Gulaid and Deepak Kalia of main sponsor CIT, Mohammed Esa Bundakji and Mohammed Afzal of Initial Services, Shamshad Khan of Ace Travel, Mir Mohammed Ali of Maui Jim Middle East, Syed Arif Hashmy of Hyderabad Sharks, Syed Mohammed Noorie of Arrow Food Distribution (Mizo Juices), Ismail Abdul Wahab Yamani of Khind Electronics, Haitham El Bendary of Saudi Industrial Projects (Pepsi). Other prominent guests, who graced the function, included representative of Jizan Cricket Association Jan Mohammed (president), Abdul Jabbar of Telangana NRI Forum. Chief guest Naser Gulaid, president and CEO of Canadian International Trading (CIT), the main sponsor of the event, handed over the winner’s trophy and a cash award of SR8,000 to MCH Premier captain Shahbaz Rasheed, Mohammed Esa Bundakji, group MD of Initial Service Group, presented the runner-up cash award of SR4,000 to Ace Travel captain Abdul Wahid and JCA Vice Chairman Humayun Farooq handed over the third position award of SR2,000 to Hala International School captain Shahjahan Rajpoot. Gulaid thanked JCA for giving CIT the opportunity to sponsor this event, appreciated the way the event was conducted and the excellent arrangements made for the final and the entire 16-week SPL League. He assured JCA of CIT’s continued support in future. Bundakji also appreciated the excellent work done by JCA in promoting and developing cricket and promised Initial’s support in future ventures of JCA. Merchant thanked all the sponsors for their solid support. He appreciated the special efforts of Arif Hashmy in bringing in new sponsors, setting up new scoreboards at grounds and carrying out complete ground maintenance during SPL. Haroon Abdulla and his team of dedicated volunteers earned kudos for their efforts in conducting the SPL professionally and for the elaborate ground arrangements, especially for the final. He also enlightened the audience about the number of awards, both in cash and kind, player of the week awards, double century by Moazzam of Ace, 8 wickets by Rafaqat of Hala School, 4 centuries by Irfan and the record partnership of over 300 by MCH Premier openers Irfan and Kashif. JCA CEO Mohammed Iqbal thanked all sponsors, congratulated the winner and runner-up for an exciting final, wished all the teams better luck in future. He also extended his gratitude to the entire executive committee for their tireless efforts. President Aijaz Ahmed Khan also thanked the sponsors, local and international press and TV channels (Geo News of Pakistan and Ruby TV of India) for their coverage and JCA’s social media team for their analytical and colorful coverage of SPL match schedules, results and statistics. He also thanked umpires, scorers, event management team, ground support staff, other volunteers and commentators. He lauded the commendable work of teenager Mohammed Shaheer, who is emerging as an excellent photographer. JCA presented plaques to sponsors CIT, Initial Services, Ace Travel, Maui Jim, Hyderabad Sharks, Arrow Foods (Mizo Juices), Sipco (Pepsi), Khind Electronics, My Care Hala, Kanoo and Jotun. Plaques were also presented to Haroon Abdulla (executive secretary) and Hamid Afandi (vice president) in recognition of their outstanding efforts. The awards presented were: Winner — MCH Premier (trophy, SR8,000 and medals), runner-up — Ace Travel ( trophy, SR4,000 and medals), third place — Hala School (SR2,000), most disciplined team — MB Stars (SR1,000). Player of the final — Irfan Fana (157 runs) of MCH Premier (SR 500, LED 32” TV and sunglasses from Maui Jim), best batsman — Irfan Fana (899 runs) of MCH Premier (SR 500, Samsung LED TV and sunglasses from Maui Jim), best bowler — Rafaqat Ali (30 wickets) of Hala School (SR500, Samsung LED TV and sunglasses from Maui Jim), player of SPL — Shahbaz Rasheed (641 runs and 20 wickets) of MCH Premier (SR 500, Samsung LED TV and sunglasses from Maui Jim), most consistent bowling performance — Rashid Kumboh (27 wickets) of Ace Travel (SR500, Samsung LED TV and sunglasses from Maui Jim), maximum sixes in final — Irfan Fana (10) of MCH Premier, best fielder in final — Bilal of Ace Travel (wall clocks by Telangana NRI’S Forum).