The remarkable success of the UAE players in the Abu Dhabi T10 this season has proven that the local players have what it takes to make an impact on high-profile franchise leagues if they get more opportunities.

And Rohan Mustafa, the veteran UAE player, was encouraged by the performance from the likes of Waseem Muhammed, Zahoor Khan and Alishan Sharafu in the tournament.

Having finished the campaign on a high with a man-of-the-match performance for Team Abu Dhabi in the third place play-off against the Qalandars, Mustafa appealed to the Emirates Cricket Board to introduce a new rule as the 32-year-old off-spinner hoped to see three local players in the playing XIs.

All eight teams in the tournament need to field one UAE player in their playing elevens as per the tournament rule, but Mustafa says the performance of the local players in this edition of the event has shown that they deserve a bigger slice of the pie.

“I think the ECB should do it. I think they must bring a new rule, three players from UAE in the playing eleven. That will be great and it will help UAE cricket in future,” Mustafa said on Saturday.

“Few of them didn’t get opportunities (in this edition), but when they got opportunities, they did well and they showed that they can do it.”

One such player who finally got an opportunity was Karthik Meiyappan, the 20-year-old UAE spinner who marked his Abu Dhabi T10 debut on Saturday with a match-winning performance for Team Abu Dhabi.

“I was waiting for this game for a long time. It was nice to go out there and perform for my team and to cross the line was good,” Meiyappan told Khaleej Times.

Meiyappan (1/21), who was fearless in his approach against the Qalandars, says he tries to play with batsmen’s mind.

“I keep it simple and try to hit the right lengths. I also try to play with the batsmen’s mind because T10 is a short format,” he said before adding that it was a wonderful opportunity for him to learn from the greats in the tournament.

“You know as UAE youngster, we don’t get to rub shoulders with Kumar Sangakkara and Chris Gayle. It was a great opportunity to pick their brains. I will try to take lessons out of this and try to put into my game.”

Credits: Khaleejtimes.com