KUALA Lumpur underlined their dominance of domestic cricket after bringing the curtains down on a successful year by winning the Premier Cup to complete a 50-overs double last weekend.
Having won the Premier League title without losing a match, KL overcame Armed Forces by five wickets in the cup semi-finals before seeing off Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia by 135 runs in the final to end the two 50-overs competition with a perfect eight wins from as many matches.
Of greater significance for KL is that the success was achieved on the back of bringing through homegrown players Pavandeep Singh, Virandeep Singh, Syed Aziz Syed Mubarak and Hafiz Khair.
Virandeep, Syed Aziz and Hafiz have all been included in the Malaysian team which will play in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Asian Division Two Qualifier starting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Along with senior national team members Ahmad Faiz Mohammed Noor and Shafiq Sharif and in addition to Sri Lankan imports Lakshitha Madushan, Navantha Rathnayake and Neville Liyanage, KL posssessed a formidable line up which no team could find a way to break through.
"We had a very well-balanced team this year and we also managed to get Faiz to play for us which made a lot of difference," said KL assistant team manager Balakrishnan Nair.
"Our young players like Viran, Hafiz and Syed Aziz also stepped up and did very well. Hafiz bowled well and Viran, besides his batting, also did well with his spin bowling.
"We have a good core of young talent and had a fairly successful season with two titles. How well we perform in future will also depend on whether we can retain the services of Faiz and Shafiq."
Virandeep finished as the fifth-highest run scorer, and third among locals, after scoring one century while Syed Aziz had two half-centuries including a best score of 89 against Perak besides claiming seven wickets in six matches.
Hafiz snared two wickets in a decisive 12-run win over Selangor which helped KL secure the league title before bagging two more wickets in the final win over UKM.
While KL ruled the 50-overs format, Selangor won the innings Fast Track Inter-State League title in May and Forces lifted the T20 Championship in June.