This Dubai Youngster Wants To Bat Like Tendulkar And Bowl Like Warne Khaleej Times

It was the hostile spells of fast bowling by Pakistani stalwarts Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar that inspired Advay Kumat, a Dubai-born young Indian cricketer, to take up the sport.

But the 13-year-old now draws inspiration from his famous countryman Sachin Tendulkar's sublime batting and the late Australian legend Shane Warne's magical leg-spin.

It remains to be seen whether this rising star can combine the styles of two iconic cricketers.

But during the recent Global Cricket Festival, organised by Dubai's G Force Cricket Academy at Ardingly College in England, Advay came up with a brilliant exhibition of his all-round talent.

As a batter, Advay showed remarkable talent and temperament, scoring 118 off 217 balls for the G Force Cricket Academy team in a two-day Test against Twenty20 Club.

The youngster then took 12 wickets in the match, eight in the first inning, including a hat trick, and four in the second.

While his bowling stats were incredible, it was the ability to bat for long periods that was truly outstanding for a player born in the T20 era.

“I had the determination,” Advay said when asked about the secret to his marathon knock.

“The weather was nice in England, so batting was not a problem. I also ran very hard between the wickets.”

Another remarkable feature about Advay is that most of his cricket heroes retired from the game before he was born.

“I have only watched their videos on YouTube,” he said.

“Earlier, it was Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar for me, and I wanted to bowl fast like them. But now I am watching a lot of Shane Warne videos, I am trying to learn from his leg-spin, googly and his flippers.

“And I Tendulkar, I just love the balance, and the shape when he played those drives. It's so beautiful to watch. I am trying to learn by watching his shots.”

Advay, who has been roped in by ILT20 (UAE's ILP-style league) franchise Desert Vipers for their development cricket programme, hopes to play cricket at the highest level.

“It's a dream to play for India, if I get a chance, of course. I live in the UAE, so that will also allow me to play for the UAE national team if I continue to do well in club cricket,” he said before revealing what has helped him mentally to improve his cricket every day.

“I travelled to England alone, my parents were not accompanying me, so I learned how to do things for myself, packing and stuff. It was a good learning experience for me.

MENAFN07092025000049011007ID1110028130