Africa-Press – Kenya. Swashbuckling Ruaraka ‘A’ all-rounder Sachin Gill is predicting a scintillating encounter against Swamibapa Sports Club ‘A’ in this weekend’s Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super Division 50-overs Knockout final.
Sachin, whose bowling skills saw Ruaraka beat Sir Ali Muslim Club (SAMC A) in the semi-final last weekend, reckons that their recent past form has pushed their confidence levels sky high.
And with an apparently insatiable appetite for success, Sachin is probably the man Ruaraka will hinge their hopes on to deliver victory. You can imagine what the indefatigable batsman is doing for his confidence going into big match that will definitely “separate the boys from men”.
Nevertheless, Sachin says he has a great feeling inside him, although he feels there is more to come in the final in terms of fireworks. “Yes, our semifinal win against Sir Ali was a confidence booster as we were not able to reach the knockouts of the NPCA T-20 competition despite a spirited run in the 50-overs season,” Sachin quipped.
But asked to comment on his team’s batting order, Sachin explained: “ We don’t expect a lot of changes in the squad that will face the Swamis as we have all performed really well lately.”
“But then again, the batting order will depend on the match situation. We’ll definitely shuffle it accordingly while also keeping our core batting order in mind.”
Sachin has traditionally occupied the top order for his wicket-hungry Thika Road troops and always strived to bamboozle his crease adversaries alongside his teammates Chandresh Hirani (who hit an impressive 47 against Sir Ali and Pushkar Sharma.
“I have scored good runs as well as taking crucial wickets for the team and that’s what I work hard for (to make the team win) as always.”
Despite his current good form, Sachin is not resting on his laurels and believes Swamibapa are a formidable side. “Swamibapa are one of the most consistent teams in NPCA competitions and having already taken the T20 title, they can’t be taken lightly, more so in our case.”
“Talking about their batting and bowling, they have a good mix of experienced and talented youngsters which is helping them stay consistent on the crease and it will be a good challenge playing them in the final given what we also have to offer as a team,” Sachin emphasised.
But prodded to explain his team’s strength, Sachin added: “Coming to think about our bowling prowess, there is no gainsaying that we have been very dominant as a unit for the past one year and all the credit goes to our under-19 maestros who have delivered for us.”
“All the three spinners (Vishil Patel, Nitish Hirani and Hitendra) in the team are under-19’s.”
Meanwhile, Swami’s battle-hardened side led by soft spoken skipper Rushab Patel will be hoping to counter Ruaraka’s planned attacks in the much-awaited final.
Swami’s top order has Rushab, Alex Obanda and Dhwanil Patel. Also in Swami’s weekend mix are Yash Bhatt, Priyanksinh Parmar, Harendra Kerai, Mitesh Sanghani and Nehemiah Odhiambo who have been impressive.
Swamibapa got into the knockout final after their would-be opponents Nairobi Gymkhana failed to honour the scheduled semifinal fixture at Nairobi Jaffery’s. The weekend will also feature semifinal knockouts for the Division One and Two categories respectively.
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