Having been part of the UAE team set up for a number of years, Fahad Nawaz is taking his cricket journey in the country to the next level.
The 25-year-old all-rounder, who was up until recently part of the UAE team, is now leading the way at the newly founded Lexington Shotguns Cricket Club, helping pave the way for the next generation of cricketers.
In less than a year, the Shotguns have already triumphed in two of the 10 tournaments they have competed in.
The Lexington Shotgun academy in Dubai, backed by brothers Nadeem and Naqash Khan and set up a couple of months back, is currently conducting the T20 Nation’s League in Ajman free of charge for youth players who were shortlisted from around 600 who attended the trials.
Nawaz, who is captain of the Shotguns and oversees the academy as well as conducts tournaments for the youth, is proud of what he has achieved with the club and academy.
“Currently we are conducting the T20 Nations League across eight teams for players drawn from the trials we organised. Also in the pipeline is a two-day tournament, 70 overs per day,” Nawaz told The National.
“The Shotguns was founded just under a year ago and we have participated in ten tournaments, reached five finals and won two. We have plans to move on as a team and academy under corporate governance.”
Nawaz’s excitement for the project is fuelled by the desire to be a part of UAE cricket, having been a national team member up until recently.
Nawaz was even a member of the larger squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia but following the tournament, he drifted away and has not been considered since.
It was a difficult period for a youngster who had spent his teenage years chasing his cricketing dreams, even discontinuing his studies after year 11.
Born to Pakistani parents in the UAE, Nawaz began his cricket at the Young Talents Cricket Academy in 2012 and went on to represent the UAE U16 three years later.
The following year, he made it to the UAE U19 side. Nawaz was also selected for the senior national team in the same year.
With two ODIs, a T20I and four List A matches for the national team under his belt, Nawaz made it into the 2022 World Cup in Australia. Without any notable performances at the senior level, Nawaz was out of the mix soon.
Having dedicated his entire life to the sport, the setback marked the beginning of a rough period.
“It was like my whole life ended. I didn’t know what to do, even though my parents and siblings consoled, supported and encouraged me to continue with my cricket and not to lose faith in my abilities,” Nawaz said.
“I was in the national age group team and later in the senior national team for seven years. That was a long time and for a young kid I thought this was my life.
“When I lost my place in the national team, I felt like my whole world collapsed. It took me a while to pick myself up and get on with life. I even wanted to give up cricket.”
Nawaz also suffered a personal loss during this time as his older brother died in a motor accident at the age of 20.
“He was the one who took me to cricket,” he added. “Having seen my skills, he supported and encouraged me to pursue full time in the sport. Losing him was a very big blow. All these happened at the same time. It was very depressing.”
Nawaz went looking for employment and was selected by a leading insurance company. Despite that, he barely lasted 20 minutes on his first day on the job.
“I was in office at 8am on my desk. The staff had put up some decorations to welcome me but suddenly I felt this job wasn’t for me. I walked up to the manager’s office to say I was leaving.
“The manager and everyone else in the office were kind to me and tried to pursue and comfort me by saying that I’ll be all right after a while but I left after around 20 minutes.”
Nawaz went back to playing full time and started coaching part time at the academy where he began his cricket.
It was during coaching where he met Naqash, who grew up in the UAE before migrating to the USA and who is the driving force behind the Lexington Shotguns academy along with his brother Nadeem.
Lexington Shotguns Cricket Club was originally founded by Nadeem in Lexington, USA, three years ago.
Naqash wanted to get some cricket coaching and was introduced to Nawaz by team owner and well-known businessman Adil Mirza.
“We worked for over a month, and we became pretty close, and hearing my background, he started a conversation of establishing a team and an academy plus some development of youth cricketers,” Nawaz, who still harbours hope of playing for UAE again, said.
“It turned my life around and has provided me the environment that I always dreamt of. It’s the kind of job that I now have something to look forward to every day in the morning.”
For Nadeem, things could not have worked out better.
“Naqash and I loved to play cricket,” Nadeem said. “We were quite passionate and we had leagues at different levels but most of the time we didn’t make it to the playing XI.
“In one such game, we had eight players on the bench. That’s the time we all decided to form a club. We found a plot of land to convert into the cricket ground and the Lexington Shotguns were founded.”
Nadeem and Naqash own businesses in the UAE and it wasn’t difficult for them to establish a club and academy in the Emirates.
“I want to back Fahad up and let him do whatever he wants. He knows the market very well, he has the experience, we will share and we can do more and more better in the future,” Naqash said of his fledgling project.
