They are the quartet of the commentary team that streams all the action live to cricket fans around the world from the AJMAN T20 CUP powered By SKY EXCHANGE.NET. Faizan Khan, Mohammed Mudassir Ali, Abdul Rehman Tariq and Abid Ibrahim as commentators liven up all the action during this tournament through their commentary filled with anecdotes, in-depth information about the players, and some great description of the ball and bat clashes from the middle. They pepper their commentary with jokes and their laughter that reverberates from the commentary box travels to all listeners around the world.
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| The commentary quartet from left: Abdul Rehman Tariq, Faizan Khan, Mohammed Mudassir Ali and Abid Ibrahim |
The four are a happy bunch who love the game deeply given that cricket runs in their blood. What makes them special and just right to comment on this tournament organized by the Ajman Cricket Council to provide a stage for domestic cricketers to showcase their talent is that all of them are domestic cricketers themselves. They have also played with some of the players about whom they are commentating during this tournament.
These commentators also carry with them the experience of having given commentary as well as expert comments during top tournaments, including the ICC World Cups and the Indian Premier League (IPL) at different venues in the UAE.
Faizan Khan lives his life speaking not only about cricket but just about everything while enthralling his listeners on the radio. As a radio jockey with 89.1 Radio 4, Faizan has a huge fan following for his spontaneous tongue-in-cheek comments. He carries with him 15 years experience in radio and ten years as a radio cricket commentator. He has been doing a Bollywood show for the last 10 years with the leading radio station 89.1 radio 4 in the UAE.
Talking about his commentary journey, Faizan said, “I started giving cricket commentary in 2012 during the Asia Cup. And over the years I have done commentary for multiple seasons of the Indian Premier League, ODI World Cups 2015 and 2019, the T 20 World Cups 2012, 2014 and 2016, the Asia Cup in 2012, 2014, 2018, and a number of international matches in the UAE featuring teams like Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, England, and associate nations like the UAE, Ireland, Namibia, and Papua New Guinea .” This popular RJ has also closely interacted with legends of the game like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar during the Asia Cups and World Cups.
Abid Ibrahim is a UAE born cricketer who has played in UAE’s domestic A division cricket from 2005 till 2015 and then carried that passion for the game into the commentary box. “I am thrilled that the door opened for commentary and I am now able to continue my passion for the game. I commentated for the full series of Pakistan A vs. New Zealand A at the ICC Academy in 2018, followed by the West Indies vs Pakistan women international series held at the Dubai International Stadium and ICC Academy in 2019. Recently I have also been commentating for the Emirates Cricket Board’s D10, D20, and D50 tournaments in Dubai.”
Ibrahim has even travelled outside the UAE on commentary assignments. “I toured Oman to commentate on the Mumbai Ranji trophy team vs the Oman national team series in Muscat in 2021. “I haven’t missed the Bukhatir Premier League since 2017 and commentated on all the matches at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, including the CBFS tournaments,” noted Ibrahim, who was also commentating on the recent Lancashire tour matches in the UAE.
As a player, Ibrahim has played in almost all the cricket grounds in the UAE. “I cannot stop myself from being on a cricket ground. I used to play for many local clubs and very often used to travel even to Umm Al Quwain to play matches. I am happy that commentary is now taking me back to the cricket ground, and I am enjoying every bit of it.”
Abdul Rehman Tariq is a familiar face for all domestic cricketers. As a child, he virtually grew up on the UAE cricket grounds. He used to accompany his father Tariq Butt, who is one of the most senior umpires in the UAE and an organiser of numerous local tournaments. So cricket talk was virtually like his mother-tongue and it was a smooth transition for him as a commentator when opportunity came his way. “My love for cricket stems from my father who was one of the first ICC umpires in the UAE. I would accompany my father to the grounds, so it was natural for me to become a cricketer. I have been playing cricket for nearly two decades now, and I run a semi professional cricket club too,” said Abdul Rehman, who is an IT professional.
But the big advantage for Abdul Rehman is his knowledge of every cricketer in domestic cricket. “Having followed domestic cricket all my life, I have good knowledge of all players representing the franchise teams in this Ajman T20 cup,” he said.
Mohammed Mudassir Ali wears many hats in cricket and hence commentary comes naturally for him. He not only loves the game but also encourages cricketers by providing them support. He was the manager of the Fujairah team in the Emirates Cricket Board’s D10, D20, and D 50 tournaments. Muhammad Waseem, whom he has mentored, is one of UAE’s finest cricketer. “I work closely with cricketers and try to inspire talented players. That is how I took on the role of a manager of the Fujairah team. It is a great feeling when I mentor players and they do well. I had worked with Muhammad Waseem from his early days in UAE, including supporting him with a residence visa for four years.”
Mohammad Mudassir Ali is a fine organiser too. He is the founder of the UAE FanForce. “This is the first fan club formed that supports and promotes UAE national players by updating their achievements regularly on social media,” he said. That’s how Mudassir knows almost all details of every local cricketer like the back of his hand, something he uses very well as a commentator. “I have been the commentator from 2017 to 2019 for the Bukhatir league 50-over tournament. I was the lone commentator in the Rashid Alleem Premier Corporate league season 2020, commentating on 74 matches all alone. It was also interesting to commentate for the PSL 2022 for Radio Talk 100.3,” said Mudassir Ali, who always keeps an eye on budding talents even while giving commentary.
These four commentators have ensured that every detail of the match is described elegantly to all viewers since all matches of the AJMAN T20 CUP powered By SKY EXCHANGE.NET are being live-streamed on CINEBLITZ & E VISION CHANNEL 670 in the UAE, FAN CODE & CricTracker in India, TOTAL SPORTS in Pakistan and Afghanistan, TSPORTS in Bangladesh, FREE SPORTS HD in UK & IRELAND and WILLOW HD in the USA and Canada.