The United Arab Emirates’ newly-appointed T20 captain for the Asia Cup qualifier C.P. Rizwan, is interestingly from the seaside town of Thalassery in north Kerala.
It is said that almost all Indian circuses are owned by people belonging to Thalassery, the most famous bakeries are based in Thalassery, and Colonel Arthur Wellesley, the man who eventually defeated Napoleon and became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, introduced cricket for the first time in India at Thalassery in the 1790s.
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After gaining popularity, Thalassery has gone on to produce a number of players in both the state senior cricket league besides the national cricket junior league.
Rizwan is an engineer by training and had migrated to Dubai to land a job and continue playing cricket as an expat. He played for Kerala’s state team before moving to Dubai. He had smashed an international century in 2021, scoring 109 in a four-match series.
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The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had made a surprising change by replacing Ahmed Raza as skipper of UAE’s T20 side with Rizwan.
The United Arab Emirates is competing in the Asia Cup qualifiers for a spot in Group A of the upcoming tournament against Singapore, Kuwait and Hong Kong. The qualifying team will be grouped with defending champions India and a resilient Pakistan.
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The Asia Cup 2022 cricket tournament is scheduled to begin on August 27 with all matches being played in Dubai and Sharjah. Incidentally, the UAE was home to the inaugural Asia Cup cricket tournament back in 1984 which India had also won.
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