The tales of the heroes of Masters Cricket USA and their passionate journey with cricket

By K.R. Nayar
From Sevens Stadium, Dubai

 

Everyone playing in the Masters Cricket USA can be literally considered a hero, with each one of them carrying amazing tales from their cricket career. The very fact that they have come out to play in Over 40’s Over 50s and Over 60s age category matches, travelling all the way to Dubai from different parts of US itself makes them heroes. They have shown the way by playing competitive cricket at a time when usually many hung up their shoes. The base of every cricketer whom I met during this event had a deep passion towards the game. This is what motivated everyone to defy their age. 

 

Arun Vitalla’s innings playing aside Kapil Dev and Arun Lal continues 

 

Arun Vittala is one of the founders of the Masters Cricket USA. He hails from Hyderabad and had played the Under-19 Combined team representing South Zone. He recalled the days when he played alongside Kapil Dev, Shivlal Yadav, Arun Lal, Kirti Azad and Yograj Singh who used to play for different zones. 

Arun Vittala

Life’s journey took him to Dallas where he is now settled. Masters Cricket USA gave him the second innings of his cricket career. “In the first year in 2021, we had only 60 people playing; but today it has swelled to over 3000 people. Our message is “Don’t stop playing cricket,” remarked Vittala, who is also the founding President of the Dallas County Club and is also responsible for starting the first ever league in Dallas. 

 

Syed Shanawaz eyes starting an Over 70s category 

 

Syed Shanawaz, whom everyone addresses as Shah, played at the university level in India. He had played a big role in boosting cricket above the age of 40. “Masters Cricket USA was conceived as an idea, mainly to revive cricket for the 40 plus cricket community. What typically happens is players, once they get to the upper 30s, they tend to give up. They have commitments, family, professional life and face many other challenges. The idea really was not only to revive the cricket in them, but to also promote some sort of discipline and healthy lifestyle, so that it keeps them active. It also became a platform for networking,” said Shah, who had played alongside Indian spinner Sunil Joshi. 

 

Syed Shanawaz

“When I moved to US in 1991, I wasn't sure if there was enough cricket in the US. Today, I am lucky to be playing in this event.  Masters has three age groups, 40 plus, 50 plus, 60 plus. In fact, we are seriously considering starting a 70 plus as well, because there's a World League for the 70 plus. We are in our third year. We started off with 50 plus, and then in two years, we kicked off 40 plus and 60 plus as well,” noted Shah, who believes that Masters Cricket USA will ensure that cricket never stops for anyone.

 

Amjad Khan: The opener who hit Afridi and Akram for sixes

 

Amjad Khan is a former Jammu and Kashmir Ranji Trophy player. He has been performing brilliantly in Dubai, and there is a reason for that. He also had captained the Kashmir University team. He had made his Ranji trophy debut against the star-studded Delhi team and opened the batting against pacers like Madanlal and Manoj Prabhakar. Those days, Delhi had players like Kirti Azad and Raman Lamba, etc. in their team. However, life had other plans for Amjad and he could not continue playing cricket in India. 

 

Amjad Khan

“The situation in Kashmir deteriorated by 1990 and so I had to leave. I went to America and started playing in the local leagues, and made a name for myself. I did really well in the local leagues in New York, consistently, because I was in good touch, had played good cricket. Soon I made it to the US team,” recalled Khan.

 

He was part of the first American winning team. They won the Americas Cup in Argentina, and Khan was the man of the match in the game against Bermuda. While playing in the Red Stripe tournament in West Indies, he top scored against Barbados,  and USA sensationally beat Barbados. Khan’s spectacular moment came in a double wicket tournament in 2002. “I hit Afridi for two consecutive sixes that got Afridi to react with anger. I also smashed Wasim Akram for a six,” recalled a proud Khan while showing me the YouTube clipping of those sixes during his knock. 

 

Khan also has a record to his name. In the US, he scored a triple century, 304 not out, in the Northern California cricket League, which has been mentioned in the Wisden Almanac 2000 edition.

 

Adil Adi played for Mumbai schools under Ravi Shastri

 

Adil Adi is proud over what he has done in cricket in the past, and what he is doing now. He plays in the Over-60s category and believes that one should not hesitate to learn the skills of the game even beyond 60.  Before going out to bat, he did not hesitate to take some tips on batting from coach Gopal Jasapara. 

 

Adil Adi 

The tale of his love for cricket began from his school days. He played in the popular Harris and Giles Shield tournament at the junior level. Players starting from Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kamble, Ajit Agarkar, Wasim Jaffar, Rohit Sharma and Prithiv Shaw have all come to the limelight through this tournament. Adil Adi was a student of St Xaviers School, the same school in which Sunil Gavaskar studied ten years before him. 

 

Adil Adi receives tips from coach Gopal Jasapara before going out to bat 

Narrating his joyful days of schools cricket, Adil said. “Those were the days when schools did not have a big budget to spend on players. For lunch, we used to get only one poori and chana masala.  So, all of us would carry onions, carrots and cucumber with us so that we feel full at lunch. Those days, we considered ourselves lucky if we got selected to the school team because we would get a free set of white shoes with spikes. I am a Parsi, and after my schooling days I went on to play for the Parsi Cyclists team in the Kanga League.” Adil’s journey with cricket did not make him a professional player since he was more focused on his profession. Today he is the Chairman of World Link, his own software company. 

 

Vijay Beniwal who plays and serves the game wearing different caps 

 

Vijay Beniwal is the captain of West Zone Over 40s team. He is so devoted to cricket that he makes time not only  to play the game but also boost the sport. “I've been in the USA for over 25 years and played cricket from year that I have been here. I captained my regional side and did a three-year stint as a USA national selector even while playing. I own Seattle Thunderbolts that plays in the Minor League in the US.”

 

Vijay Beniwal

Despite being busy as a Microsoft Engineer and various activities connected with cricket, he made sure to be part of Masters Cricket USA. “I love to be involved in this second innings.  There is competitiveness and it is an awesome feeling to meet and play in a different phase of life. It's a great and a healthy hobby,” noted Vijay who was born in Haryana and comes from an army background.  

 

Beniwal played for his college and was selected for university cricket. Since he wasn’t too sure where cricket would take him, he decided to focus on his studies. USA cricket team’s star players like Andries Gous and Harmeet Singh play for his team Seattle Thunderbolts. 

 

Fazal Alam is a former Vizzy Trophy player 

 

Fazal Alam captains North Zone in the Masters Cricket USA. He carries with him a rich experience of the game. Hailing from Hyderabad, he has represented their Under-23 team, and was a top performer for Osmania University before moving out to USA. Today, he is the IT Programme Manager for Imperial Distributors, but finds time for his second innings with cricket.

 

Fazal Alam

“I used to play alongside top players like Noel David and Abbas Ali Khan. I’ve also played in the Vizzy Trophy,” said Alam. Vizzy Trophy is an annual Inter-Zonal limited overs university tournament named after former Indian cricketer and BCCI President, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram. It was a prestigious event and hugely competitive. Alam stars in many tournaments in the US as an opening bat and an accurate bowler. While enjoying playing in Dubai, he says: “I loved every bit of it. It is a phenomenal facility and the grounds are fabulous.”

 

East Central skipper Zygmin Patel runs a cricket academy in St Louis 

 

Zygmin Patel, skipper of the East Central Over-40s team who lives in St Louis, Missouri,  is delighted with the experience of playing the Masters Cricket USA in Dubai. “It was indeed a different level of experience. We do miss such top class infrastructure in the US. Everybody loved playing in the matches and even the practice sessions. Actually, Masters started with Over 50’s team; and after seeing the enthusiasm for such age level cricket, we started the Over 40s. The result is that we have a huge response for all age categories, and we hope to have a good Over 50s team for the Over 50’s World Cup too,” says Patel who hails from Gujarat but has settled in the US since 25 years.

 

Zygmin Patel

Patel used to  play university level cricket in Gujarat, but as is the case with most people, academics took precedence and he went on to become an IT professional. But his passion for cricket lived on. He not only kept playing but also ensured that gave back to the game he loved. Hence, he set up a cricket academy in St Louis. “It was a bench mark for the whole of US. Ours is a voluntary effort and I been coaching young talent for the last nine years. We have flown coaches from India to our academy to train our players ,” noted Patel. 

 

Rizwan Mohammmed - a consistent performer

 

Rizwan Mohammed captains the East Central Zone in the Over 50s category, and is an accurate right-arm off break bowler. He is not just a player, but is knowledgeable about most aspects of the game. This has actually His knowledge won him prestigious positions. He was the Director and Board member of USA cricket.  While serving the game, he also finds time to play cricket living in Fort Lauderdale, where the recent ICC Cricket World Cup matches were held.  

 

East Central Captain Mohammed Rizwan (left) with and North Captain Fazal Alam

Rizwan has enjoyed every bit of playing in the Masters Cricket USA in Dubai. “It is a tournament that is beneficial for everyone. It is indeed enjoyable to play in a competition of same age group,” said Rizwan who was also president of the Florida Southeast Cricket League (FSCL). “I enjoy my cricket. I won the bowler of the year award in 2021, and have toured with the USA team to Canada and England. 

 

 

Sanjeewa Weerasinghe: the guiding star from Sri Lanka

 

Sanjeewa Weerasinghe is the captain of West Zone Over 50’s team. The team is blessed to have a first class cricketer of repute from Sri Lanka. He took up the game from the age of eight, inspired by his elder brother. Although he is 57 years old, he continues to play cricket.  Thanks to Masters Cricket USA, he is enjoying very moment of his second innings. Being the most experienced and valuable players among the Over 50s in the USA, he will be captaining the Over 50s USA team in the oncoming Over 50s World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka in February 2025.

 

Sanjeewa Weerasinghe

The first innings of his life with cricket was very prestigious. He is a product of Ananda College, Colombo – an institution that has produced great cricketers, including the World Cup wining captain Arjuna Ranatunga. “I played first class cricket for 15 years. I’ve played alongside Ranatunga’s brothers, Nishantha and Sanjeeva. I used to represent the Nondescripts Cricket Club. It was named Nondescripts because it was a club open to anyone, unlike other Colombo-based clubs at the time that were aligned with particular ethnic groups. I was their top order batsman. I also keep wickets and can bowl as well.” 

 

Sanjeewa represented Sri Lanka A, along with Arjuna Ranatunga. Later on, he was also appointed as a match referee. He moved to the USA in 2010 and works as nurse after taking a degree in the medical field. “I am thankful to Parak Ananta (founder of Masters Cricket USA) for calling me and putting my name in the Over 50s. I am now enjoying every bit of my second innings.”

 

Vinod Periagram - from Shivaji Park in Mumbai to Dallas 

 

Vinod Periagram is the captain of South Zone of  Over 40s team. He lives in Dallas and is delighted having played in the Masters Cricket USA. “It is a well conducted event with good facilities. It is indeed unimaginable how 160 players were flown in to play a domestic event in Dubai. Some may consider this as a  crazy idea, but the organisers ensured that everything is in place,” said Vinod, who was the President of the Dallas County Cricket Club from 2013 to 2016. 

 

Vinod Periagram

Cricket has been an integral part of Vinod’s life. He hails from Mumbai and grew up playing in Shivaji Park, and has played in top  tournaments like the Times Shield.

Although studies took precedence and he moved to the US for his Masters Degree in Information Systems, he never gave up cricket. “From 2000 to 2012, I played for the USA team and even took part in the Moin-ud Dowlah tournament. I toured Pakistan with the Over 40s team and performed well. Masters Cricket USA is a motivation towards working hard to take part in the Over 40s World Cup,” says Vinod.