Adeeb Usmani set aside the disappointment of missing out on qualification for the Asia Cup by helping the UAE to a clean sweep of Malaysia.
A three-match T20 international series had been tacked on to the end of a tour to Kuala Lumpur, for which the primary business had been the ACC Premier Cup.
The champions of that 10-team competition, played in the 50-over format, would qualify for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh next year.
That would pit them into competition against the giants of Asian cricket, including India. Many of the UAE side – including Usmani - grew up aspiring to represent India at cricket, so the feeling of loss was acute when they were beaten to qualification in the final by Nepal.
There was further fallout from that game for Usmani, who was censured for indiscipline by the ICC.
Usmani and Nepal batter Rohit Paudel were fined for breaching the game’s code of conduct during a row in Nepal’s batting innings. The duo had an angry exchange of words and had to be separated.
They were later docked 15 per cent of their match fees, and given one demerit point each for “disobeying an umpire’s instruction”. The argument had continued after the officials had attempted to defuse the situation.
Despite all that, Usmani continued his fine form with the bat in the T20I series that followed.
The wicketkeeper-batter only debuted for the national team earlier this year, after becoming one of the first crop of cricketers to be granted UAE citizenship.
After eight ODIs he has an average of over 40, with a century plus two other scores in excess of 50 to his name.
He was the star again as the UAE wrapped up a 3-0 series win over the hosts in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. He made 95 in 53 balls to set up a 59-run win.
He proved an able substitute for Muhammad Waseem at the top of the order. The UAE’s T20 talisman was absent for this series as he is participating in the ETPL in Europe.
The squad will now head back to the UAE, where the players will be hoping to press their claims for an ILT20 contract via the development tournament, which is taking place in Dubai.
