University of Maryland cricket club team places second in regional championships

The University of Maryland club cricket team poses with a supporter and an organizer.

Despite last year’s obstacles, Terrapin Cricket Club captain Razi Khan was confident his team would make it to the semifinals this year.

In 2014, its inaugural year, the University of Maryland club performed well enough in the season and the mid-Atlantic regional tournament to qualify for the American College Cricket National Championship, but it ultimately lost to Rutgers University.

“We played in the [regional] tournament and did not win anything because, at that time, we did not have practice enough going into the tournament,” said Khan, an electrical engineering graduate student. “A lot of players played in a cricket league over the summer, so they were ready to go. Last year, most of our players were not playing in leagues, and we added a few new players to the team and they were good players.”

This year, the 13-person team again qualified for the regional championships, and this time, they took second place and earned a spot in the national tournament.

READ MORE: Terrapin Cricket Club will compete in college national championship

Mahesh Naidu, a team member, said the win was a “big achievement.”

“Every game we won before the finals, we had a very good bowling run,” said Naidu, a telecommunications engineering graduate student. “Our bowling lineup was very good, and that was our key plan — to bowl first and get them out really fast so our team could get out to bat.”

This year’s mid-Atlantic tournament included eight collegiate teams — this university, Drexel University, George Washington University, Virginia Tech, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, University of Buffalo and Pennsylvania State University.

This university’s team defeated the University of Pennsylvania, Buffalo and Virgina Tech before losing to Drexel, 157-146, in the finals.

“University of Maryland did really well. It’s a relatively new club and did really well against Drexel, who made it to the finals of the national tournament last year,” said Lloyd Jodah, the founder and president of the American College Cricket league. He said Drexel was very good, but this university “was very competitive against them in the finals.”

Naidu said the cricket club team, which was founded in September 2014, had a number of strengths that helped it in the tournament.

“We were very active on the field, and had very good catchers and fielders,” he said. “Our fielding was really great this tournament, and that’s why we won those games.”

READ MORE: UMD beats Penn State to take first and second in soil competition

Khan said the team put up a good fight against Drexel in the final match.

“Everyone thought they were going to keep scoring, but at that point we came back,” Khan said. “We did really well to keep them under 160, and it gave us a chance to win the game, but we fell short by nine or 10 points. It was a good final; after we started batting it was anybody’s game.”

After placing in regionals, the club team qualified for the national championship, which takes place in Florida every March, Khan said. This will be the team’s next tournament.

In the meantime, Khan said, the team will “practice hard” and perhaps play a “friendly game against George Washington” to keep on pace for the tournament.

“This tournament in March will be my last, so my goal will be to win the tournament or to make it to the top four teams because there will be close 40 teams competing,” Khan said.

Jodah said he hopes cricket teams continue to develop at universities.

“Cricket itself has had its struggles. Even though more people are playing it recently, it doesn’t really have a profile,” Jodah said. “The game does something for the students and for the colleges. The schools that have a cricket club can attract students who play this sport, which is important for universities because they spend a lot of money trying to attract students from around the world, and it also it gives an opportunity for students to play the game that they love.”

After much success, Khan and Naidu, longtime cricket players who will soon graduate, said they want to preserve the club’s success after they move on.

“I’ve been playing cricket for a really long time, and it’s a sport where you won’t see a lot of fights. It tests your mental and physical toughness,” Khan said. “I want to introduce some new players to the team so that when we leave, the cricket will continue at UMD.”