Final Four: Strikers Takes On Seven Star And Pak America Battles Melbourne

Commonwealth Cricket League
Arif Islam, Pranay Das, Ehsan Jamil, Dehan Nazmul, Rumon, Shojib, Vijay Seonarine, Ryan, Sarrmad Khan, Nadir Mohammed, Mohsin Khan, Gajanand Singh, Irfan Mallik, Shahid Shazad, Robin Dass, Wahab Munir, Hunain Munir, Yasir.

Moshin Khan of Seven Star has a tally of 507 runs. Photo Shem Rodney

What do all these name have in common?
Well, this is some of the talent that will be on display this Sunday as the playoffs kick off in the Commonwealth League.

The top 4 teams in the First Division will be playing at Whitestone park.
On Whitestone Pitch 1 we will see Strikers CC host Seven Star CC.
On Pitch 2, Pak America CC will host Melbourne.

Over the years the CCL has had some thrilling finals which were played by such great teams as ACS, Albion, Warriors, Melbourne, Seven Star, Strikers, etc.

Some of the stalwarts that played in these past finals include Zamin Amin, Sew Shivnarine, Derrick Kallicharran, Nizam Hafiz, Derryck Murray, Terry Hastoo, Trevor Walke, Saeed Amin, Bud Amin, Kumar Lorick, Kennedy Venkersammy, Glenn Lorick, Mike Chin, Nyeem Baksh, Tony Lewis, Amir Qureshi, Andre Roodal, Sam Smith, Sheldon Gomes, Ganesh Ramsingh, and the formidable Steve Massiah.

Two names from the above list are no longer with us; Nizam Hafiz and Andre Roodal are surely missed by all those who knew them. They do not come and better than these 2 guys.

Luckily, The CCL has been blessed with an abundance of talent and here are some mouth-watering stats of our present-day Superstars in 2014:
Mohsin Khan {Seven Star}          507 runs.
Gajanand Singh {Strikers}          393 runs
Hunain Munir {Pak America}    313 runs
Arif Islam {Melbourne}               285 runs
Shahid Shazad {Strikers}            260 runs

Ali Zar {Pak America}                        21 wickets
Shojib {Melbourne}                           18 wickets
Mubashar {Pasban}                           18 wickets
Sarrmad Khan {Seven Star}             16 wickets
Wahab {Pak America}                       15 wickets

Gajanand Singh of Strikers has scored 393 runs for the season so far.

Who will win this Sunday and which 2 teams will reach the Finals?
That is anyone’s guess.
4 teams. 4 superb teams. 44 very, very talented players.

The playoffs this Sunday will be amazing. We can be sure of that.

On display will be very fast bowling. A la Wahab Munir and Irfan. The best spin bowling anywhere in Pranay, Shojib, Rumon and Rudhir. Scintillating display of batting in Mohsin and Gajanand and Hunain and Shazad and Arif and Dehan.

All teams are at full-strength. One thing we know for sure though. The finals will be exciting. It will be as good as any we have seen over the years. Irfan will make sure of that. So will Arif Islam. And Wahab. And Mohsin Khan.  Mr. Raouff Khan, the man behind the scenes, has done a great job coordinating all of this. We know for sure that on Sunday he will have a big smile on his face. Of accomplishment, that is!!

This is what NY cricket is made of…………….and it doesn’t get any better!!!