Preview – NRW Indoor Championship

The cricketing season 2016 is about to start and we are going to have our first major competition of this year within one week. The NRW Indoor Championship is on 07.02.2016. The competition will be held in the beautiful city of Mülheim an der Ruhr. Ten clubs are participating in the event. It is an all day event, starting at 08:30 and will go till late night. We will have more than 20 games on that day and in the end we will have a presentation ceremony with our chief guest will again be Kabir Ali. For more information about this event clink here. Here are the clubs which are participating in this event.

Duisburg CC

Duisburg CC is a relatively new club in NRW. Although the first couple of years were very difficult for them but since the inclusion of some young players the club is now right at the top in NRW and now considered a very serious opposition in every format. They are the runners up of last year’s T20 Championship and winner of last year’s Indoor Championship. They won all of their matches last time and now looking to repeat that performance again this year to defend their title. And with players like Nasir Ahmed and Harjot Singh, they have right balance to do this again.

Mülheim CC

Mülheim CC are the host of this event, as they were last time too. They are the only club which are participating with two teams; Mülheim Seniors and Mülheim Juniors, just like last year. Although Mülheim CC is one of the strongest club in NRW and out performed all clubs in last season and are the winners of T20 Championship, but their record in indoor tournament is not that great. They were the host of last 3 tournaments but apart from last year, they never qualified for Semi Final. Last year both their teams qualified for Semi Final, in fact played the Semi Final against each other. Mülheim Juniors won that match with one wicket and then went on to play against Duisburg CC in final, which they lost. Mülheim CC is the only club which regularly play indoor cricket and they are participating in this tournament with same combination of players. So they have home advantage and experience to perform well this year.

Bochum CC

Bochum CC is one of the oldest clubs in NRW. They have achieved many landmarks and had great success in the past. They were the runners up of last year’s Master’s league and played the Semi Finals of T20 Championship and Indoor Championship. They have the players who can outperform any club on their day. But since last year their performance is not at highest level. Although they played the Semi Final of Indoor Championship last year, but they had at least two terrible matches; one against the weaker team Friends XI and one against Duisburg CC in Semi Final. They don’t want to repeat that again this year. But without their senior player Abad Arkam, it will be up to Naeem Ali, Waqar Ali and Kashif Haider to make sure that they end the tournament right at the top

Dortmund CC

They are considered the strongest team in NRW. Even last year they were probably only behind Mülheim CC in terms of performance. They got the experience and skills to win against any opposition, in any format and in any conditions. Their last year’s indoor performance was not that good though. When they won, they won heavily and when they lost, they lost badly. They were unable to qualify for Semi Finals. Although later they ended the season as NRW Master League Champions and also played Semi Final of T20 Championship. They will be very excited to win this time the Indoor Championship and start the season at high point. If they want to do this and remind everyone again how strong they are then Mudassar razzaq and Raouf Baloch must take the responsibility and do the job for their team. They are most experienced and probably most skilled batsman in NRW. They have to deliver now.

Friends XI

They are the new entry in NRW. They also played last year’s NRW Indoor Championship but now they are full member of NRWCU and looking forward to start the season with yet another surprisingly good performance in this event. Just like last year when they defeated Bochum CC but just finished short of qualifying Semi Finals. Although they lack experience and skills at highest level but one thing is 100% sure, they are motivated, excited and willing to take any challange.

Xtremers

Xtremers are very unpredictable at times, but their overall performance is not that good especially last year. They were unable to make any impact in any competition. Although they had some good moments, especially when they took 10 wickets for 20 odd runs against the later champions Mülheim CC after a 100 runs stand between openers. But continuous changes in final line up and batting and bowling order meant that they were not a serious threat to anyone last time. They need to lift their standards now as they are also part of NRWCU for many years now and have some very good players like Vikram Singh.

Uni Dortmund

They joined NRWCU last year and only played T20 Championship. They won some matches but their overall performance was not good enough. They are still in the process of building a team and trying to organize things within the club. But they have excited players, and motivation and hunger to perfrom well. This is their very first indoor event and they will be excited to have some new experience here, and also try to find the right balance for their team for later competitions.

Moers CC & PSV Aachen

This is their very first season with NRWCU. Both clubs are founded by some very experienced and well respected players of NRW this year and ready to launch their clubs with their first ever Indoor Championship. Although both clubs are in the process of building the team and organization but they have a great combination of young and experienced players. They are the underdogs in this tournament and have the element of surprise with them. Definitely They want to make their presence feel in this event.