UAE captain Rahul Chopra shines in stifling heat but national team lose to Netherlands

Rahul Chopra, the UAE captain, blacked out because of heat exhaustion while batting against the Netherlands.

The 31-year-old batter made 82 not out on his return to captaining the national team in the first match of the Cricket World Cup League Two tri-series in Dubai.

His stay at the crease was interrupted for a number of overs as he was led away by paramedics and Dr Manish Pardeshi, the UAE team’s medical head.

He received treatment to cool his body temperature in a pitch-side ambulance, and later returned to finish his innings.

His effort eventually went in vain. The Netherlands chased the UAE’s total of 244 with three wickets left to win the series opener.

The Dutch players, who were arriving from the cool of European autumn, also showed signs of being debilitated by the searing heat at the ICC Academy.

“It is the first time I have felt like this in cricket; the heat was too much today,” Chopra said.

“I had a total blackout in front of my eyes. That is why I needed the help of doctors. I went back out to bat because I knew it was not easy to hit from the start.

“I was already set [before he retired] and I had the chance to go back and do something for the team, and add 10 or 20 more runs.”

Chopra’s pluckiness in the face of adversity was a much needed lift for his struggling side.

The national team will finish last in CWCL2, whatever happens in their remaining games against the Netherlands and Oman in this series.

They will then have to play to try to retain their ODI status at a World Cup Qualifier Play-off in Nepal in December.

To add to the issues, Harpreet Bhatia, the previous captain, is now on an indefinite break from cricket. He has returned to India, the country of his birth, as his mother is ill.

Chopra said he was glad to be given the chance to captain the side again as he wants to make a difference.

“I always want to try to be a team man,” Chopra said. “I always want to win games for the team.

“The responsibility of a leadership, when it has been given to me, I have always taken it on behalf of the team. I always want to lead from the front and do well for the team, whether I am captain or not.”

Chopra was not the only victim of conditions which were unseasonably tough for late October.

Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren, the Netherlands bowlers, each had to pull out of bowling with painful bouts of cramp, while dragging themselves through wearying bowling spells.

Show caption: Netherland's Max O'Dowd, right, celebrates his century. Phot…

Their efforts were rewarded, though, as they chased down their target of 245 thanks to a sparkling century by Max O’Dowd, their opener.

Azharuddin Qureshi, the strength and conditioning lead for the UAE team, praised the players for their efforts in such exacting conditions.

“This October has been a little bit different in Dubai compared to the earlier years which I have seen,” Qureshi said.

“We have also played in June with West Indies in Sharjah in 50-over games. We started in the afternoon, finished in the evening, but we never seen the players from both the teams getting so much cramps.

“There was a lot of humid today. It felt totally different to what we had expected for this month or this month.

“It feels like summer is getting extended in Dubai, and this was just one of the days where the humidity was too much, especially the first half of the game today.

“We managed from our side to keep the players on the field. It does get difficult for the players, and I can, understand what they go. But they played their heart out.”