Today I’d like to introduce one of the popular figures of Kashmir Cricket, Younis Ahmad Bhat, who is dubbed as “Lala” (Nickname for the great Pakistani all-rounder, Shahid Afridi). He has been quite a figure in Kashmir strikers , not only for his part in their recent success, but also instrumental in their popularity among the fans. Apart from being a very wonderful person, he’s a very talented cricketer as well. He started playing cricket through the Natipora team in Kashmir for whom he was one of the best all-rounder, amassing more than 10 Man of the Match awards in the process.
When he came to UAE, he was bagged by MCC. He then went on to join Kashmir Strikers as the strike bowler, taking well over 40 wickets for them and being awarded for the best fielder title. It’s notable that in UAE only he has 4 centuries and more than 20 half centuries to his name along with a whooping score of 70 wickets. Talking about ‘a moment to remember’ he speaks about when he played against the Kashmir Ranji team in April 2016, at the Sharjah International Stadium, bagging 3 wickets in 4 overs against them. That’s certainly a record to look out for.He also took a hatrick aganist Sheaikh Ul Alam Cricket club on 1st Oct 2016.
He claims to be the biggest fan of Shahid Afridi, and draws strong inspiration from him. I personally feel that there is actually a resemblance in their mannerisms, so why not confer the title ‘LALA’ to him officially. I think he deserves it.
Leagues : DAT20 ,KSL,Kashmir cricket league
(Article by: Taha Mirza)
