It is not uncommon for sportsmen to be moved to tears when they achieve a lifetime ambition.
The emotion that poured out of Haider Ali after the UAE secured qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup spoke of something more, though.
The UAE spin bowler was adopted by an uncle as a baby and became estranged from his birth parents. He reconciled with his father later in life, and they became close.
His father told him it had always been his dream for his son to become an international cricketer.
By that stage, Haider was making plans to leave behind his homeland of Pakistan in order to secure a better financial future for his family. He relocated to the UAE in January 2022.
He started the process of qualifying for the UAE national team via the ICC’s three-year residency rules, and had big plans for when he did. It was his goal to win matches for his adopted country, and help them play in all the major tournaments.
Since debuting earlier this year, he has done exactly that. The UAE beat Bangladesh in his debut series, which was their first bilateral series win against a Test-playing nation.
He has become a central figure in the side in the time since, culminating in a player-of-the-match performance in the game against Japan, which clinched their place at the T20 World Cup, to be played in India and Sri Lanka in February.
He has delivered on his father’s dream for him, but he was not around to see it. He died in July 2023.
“Everyone has a different life,” Haider said. “What I have faced in the past two or three years in the UAE and back in Pakistan, is very difficult.
“I didn’t see my father in the last couple of years [of his life] because of cricket, [then] he died. It had been my father’s dream to play international cricket.
“He did a lot of things for me as a father. My father was very special. I want to give credit to my late father and my family as well.
“When I came to UAE in 2022, he was crying at the airport. He told me, ‘This is my dream, you playing international cricket.’
“I faced a lot of things in three years, and since I became eligible [to play for the UAE]. I don’t want to mention someone or some things, but I do want to mention those people who supported me in those three and a half years.”
Those he wished to thank were many. There was Mubashshir Usmani, the general secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board, for the support provided to the national team.
Then there was the team's support staff of Lalchand Rajput, Manipreet Sidhu, Manish Pradeshi, Azharuddin Qureshi and Amjad Ezzi.
And also, Ahmed Raza, who was coincidentally the UAE captain the last time they qualified for a T20 World Cup, on the very same field at the Oman Cricket Academy in Muscat.
“This is a big stage; this is a World Cup,” Haider said. “Every professional cricketer has the dream to play in the World Cup.
“As a UAE international player, for us, this is a big thing. We have done a lot of hard work in the last six months, and for this a lot of credit goes to the UAE cricket board.
“They gave us all the facilities, everything we could want as a player. They deserve this.
“Especially for me as a youngster, this is a big stage, and, Inshallah, we will do something good in the World Cup as well.”
February’s event will be the fifth time the UAE have played at one of the two versions of a World Cup in cricket. They featured at the 1996 and 2015 one-day international World Cups, and in 2014 and 2022 in the abridged format.
In that time, they have won only two matches – against the Netherlands in 1996, and Namibia in Geelong three years ago.
Haider is confident they can add to that tally this time, in a 20-team tournament which will likely be divided into four groups of five.
“Cricket is all about belief,” Haider said. “I believe in myself and think that on any day I can do anything on the field. It is all about self-belief.
“Before I became eligible, I said we were going to qualify for the World Cup. We beat Bangladesh and, mark my words, we will do a big upset in the World Cup as well.
“We have a good enough team, we have good spinners, and we have [opening batters] Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem. We know how well they do in this format.
“Mark my words: we will do something special in the World Cup in India [and Sri Lanka].”
