DOHA (Qatar): The cricket community in Qatar are upbeat over the gradual resumption of academies after a long lay off due to the outbreak of coronavirus in March.
The players, who spent nearly five months indoor, are excited to be back at the nets of different academies in the Qatari capital.
The Bravo Cricket Academy (BCA), which boasts of a presence of six women players from the Qatar national team, were in the forefront to restart training sessions in June.
“We were sad that a number of tournaments got cancelled,” Qatar national team captain Ayesha told KhelUpdates.com.
The Qatar women’s team last played an international match in January, and currently they are fine-tuning their fitness and skills at the different coaching centres.
Ayesha, whose family hails from Hyderabad in India, was born and brought up in Doha.
“We’re hopeful that international events for will resume. We will get to play some matches. This is the reason we are keeping ourselves fit by training,” added Ayesha, who has been a member of the Qatar team from 2008 after having made her debut with the Under19 team at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) event in Thailand.
Following the outbreak of the pandemic in March this year, the Government of Qatar stopped all sporting activities.
“The coronavirus lockdown was bad in terms of cricket, but I devoted my time to chalk out a diet plan with guidance with my academy coaches,” said 13-year-old Sheikh Zayed Hussain, a member of Qatar Under-16 team.
Sachi Grewal, a product of Stallions Cricket Academy, also felt relieved to be back in training.
“It’s a great feeling to be back at the nets,” said the Delhi-born girl, who joined the Qatar team since early this year.
Senior Qatar batsman-wicket-keeper Trupti Kale, Khadija Imtiaz and Shireen thanked the efforts taken by BCA coaches to help the players regroup following the Covid19 interruptions.
“It affected us everyone. But the best thing was that our coaches conducted zoom classes on physical fitness while we stayed indoors,” said Khadija.
Christopher Raja, who heads Bravo Cricket Academy at its Al Wukair campus, said the facility has returned back to normal.
“Qatar overcame the lockdown period thanks to the precautious and the safety protocols,” said Christopher. “We opened in June following all the strict protocols including temperature check and sanitisations. We sanitize the equipment after the training.”
He also added that there has been an increase in number of trainees post Covid-break.
“A large number of new trainees have joined academy including junior girls,” said the 38-year-old.
Even the parents are happy that cricket has resumed partially with all the restrictions in place.
“The resumption of sports is a good thing not just for cricket but for all sports. I’m happy to see the children are back on the cricket field,” said Adnan Khan, whose son Riyan trains at the Stallions Cricket Academy at Abu Hamour.
