The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Amla almost certain to be picked for India tour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Amla almost certain to be picked for India tour

DURBAN, OCT. 19 One of South Africa's most promising young talent Hashim Amla is all set to become the first cricketer of Indian origin to make it to the national team.

The 21-year-old, who is the captain of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial team, is almost certain to be picked in the squad for the two-Test tour of India beginning on November 14.

Amla has staked a strong claim for selection, scoring four centuries over the past few weeks. Last weekend he notched up 115 runs in an inter-provincial match for his Natal team against Eastern Cape in Port Elizabeth. A week ago he scored a century against Western Province in a home game at Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead.

Earlier, he had scored two centuries against the New Zealand `A' team that visited the country recently.

Convenor of selectors Omar Henry said today that there was no doubt that a number of younger players, including Amla, had been knocking on the door of selection for quite some time.

``It's pleasing to see that younger players are coming through,'' said Henry.

If selected, Amla would become the first cricketer of Indian origin to play for the country after it was re-admitted into international cricket in the early 1990s.

Amla said he would be very pleased if he is selected to travel to India as he understood the culture and conditions of the sub-continent better than the rest of the squad.

``Being of Indian origin will give me an advantage to adapt to the conditions there,'' Amla told a radio sports programme.— PTI

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