Srinagar Publish Date: Jan 31 2018
They call him De Villiers and the swashbuckling batsman Adil Abdullah is living up to the billing
Adil Abdullah, 23, is a minor celebrity in Zainakote, Srinagar. There, they call him De Villiers, after the swashbuckling South African batsman, and the nickname isn’t entirely misplaced. He has a reputation of entertaining spectators whenever he takes to the cricket field.
“I do not remember the exact number of runs I have scored, but I am sure I have smashed more than 23 centuries so far,” Adil says. “My highest score is 154, which I hit at the HMT ground.”
Smashed is apt description for how he bats. He blitzed a 24-ball 56 to take his Chattbal Warriors team into the final of last year’s Srinagar Premier League T20. It was the fastest fifty in the history of the league.
Such exploits have earned Adil comparisons with the established stars of Kashmiri cricket like Parvez Rasool, Rubiya Sayeed, Amir Hussain Lone and Manzoor Ahmad Dar. They have also got him his big break – he has been selected to play for North Zone in the Inter Zone tournament organised by the CPLCC.
He now aims to play for the Jammu and Kashmir team. “Cricket is my life’s passion,” he says. It indeed shows on the field.
