Two young UAE cricketers get Chris Gayle scholarships

Dubai - Two of the United Arab Emirates’ most promising cricketers have been awarded scholarships by Jamaica and West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle.

Sixteen-year-old Shorye Chopra and Kartik Shekar won the Spartan Scholarship based on their outstanding performances for the UAE junior team and in domestic tournaments, reports CMC.

The young cricketers will get to use the Spartan bat that both Gayle and Australia captain Michael Clarke use in international cricket. In all, the teenagers each received Spartan cricket equipment worth more than 5,000 UAE dirham ($1,300).

They were chosen after Sun and Sand Sport conducted a country-wide search for budding talent.

Chopra has played for the UAE Under-19 team, hitting a match-winning century against Nepal in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournament in Malaysia, and has scored consistently in school and academy matches. Shekar captained the UAE Under-16 team in 2012 and has scored many centuries for his teams.

Gayle mixed freely with the two players and expressed his delight when he heard that former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams had coached the two boys from an early age.

“Play hard and keep practicing,” he told them.