The Cricket World Cup is churning along nicely — especially for the United Arab Emirates player Shaiman Anwar. Although the UAE lost to powerhouse rivals Pakistan on Wednesday, Anwar — who doesn’t even play cricket full-time! — managed to come move ahead in the individual standings, becoming the top run-scorer of the tournament.
The middle-order batsman who spends his days toiling for a shipping company in the Middle Eastern country has racked up 270 runs in four innings for an average of 67.5 per match. If you don’t understand cricket scoring, here’s the translation: That’s a lot. It’s more than the next highest-scorers Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka (268), Chris Gayles of the West Indies (258), Hashim Amla of South Africa (257) and Lahiru Thirimanne of Sri Lanka (256) — all of whom play cricket as their full-time job.
Anwar originally comes from Pakistan, where he played cricket all his life. An offer to play club cricket in the UAE got him interested in moving, but it wasn’t until he landed a job with a shipping firm that he eventually relocated in 2007. He made his debut with the UAE’s national team in 2009.
To prepare for the World Cup, arguably the biggest stage of his life, Anwar prepared the same way as the rest of his amateur teammates, Australia’s Cricket.com reports, “months of managing a careful juggling act between full-time work and long hours of training.”
Obviously, it worked. The 35-year-old’s prowess has earned him the nickname “Sir Viv,” UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir revealed to Cricket.com. “He’s a brilliant batsman. He’s doing very well for himself and the team.”
Sir Viv will get to test his skills next against South Africa on March 11. The Cricket World Cup runs through March 29.
Marissa Payne writes for The Early Lead, a fast-breaking sports blog, where she focuses on what she calls the “cultural anthropological” side of sports, aka “mostly the fun stuff.” She is also an avid WWE fan.
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