Having already featured in a T20 World Cup, it is inaccurate to say Aayan Afzal Khan was playing in front of the biggest crowd of his life so far.
What is certain, though, is the fact he will never have had such numbers singing him happy birthday before.
The Sharjah cricket prodigy became the UAE’s youngest one-day international cricketer in the first match of the series against Nepal in Kathmandu on Monday.
It was actually a day before his 17th birthday, but the typically impressive home crowd at Tribhuvan University were more than happy to help him celebrate prematurely.
And what a day he had to savour. An ODI debut, just over a month after he became the youngest player to play in a T20 World Cup.
A wicket with his first ball. A wicket with his third. Final figures of 4-14 from 10 overs, which included four maidens. And all contributing to an uplifting 84-run win for the UAE.
“They knew it was my birthday tomorrow, so they all started singing for me,” Aayan said. “I made my T20 debut recently, so I was not nervous even though it was my [one-day] debut. I just wanted to perform well.
“It is great to be in Nepal playing in front of all these fans. It was similar to Australia. It felt good.”
This was UAE’s first outing since their fitful display in the preliminary round of the T20 World Cup in Geelong last month.
It had the feel of the start of a new era. CP Rizwan took over the ODI captaincy from Ahmed Raza, just as he had in the 20-over format ahead of the World Cup. Alongside Aayan, new fast bowler Hazrat Bilal was given a debut, too.
There was one significant nod to the past, though. Rohan Mustafa was picked, despite being overlooked for unexplained reasons for the main event in Australia.
Nothing will erase the hurt he felt at missing that event. But the 34-year-old all-rounder seemed intent on making the most of what time is left to him in the international game, as he made 53.
He was zoning in on a statement century, but he clipped a catch to Aasif Sheikh off the bowling of his great mate Sompal Kami.
Although their own side struggled, having been set 264 to win and despite half centuries for Arjun Saud and Dipendra Singh Airee, the home fans still revelled in Mustafa’s excellence.
The UAE all-rounder has been a popular overseas player in Nepal franchise cricket down the years, and it was obvious how well-loved he was beyond the ropes.
The home faithful have found a new favourite, too, in the form of Aayan. From the moment he was stationed to his fielding position, right in front of the most vocal part of the crowd, he was cheered.
By the end, fans were passing their phones through the fence to have selfies with him.
“My mum said when I played at the World Cup that I should take pictures with all the international players, many of them,” Aayan said. “I said, ‘No, I won’t do that. Because Inshallah people will want to takes selfies with me soon'.”
Rizwan says the UAE are grateful to have such a sparkling prospect in their ranks.
“It was a really amazing performance – to get a wicket with his first ODI ball is itself amazing,” the UAE captain said.
“To go through an opposition like that, not just taking wickets but restricting runs as well, what else do you need as a captain?”
The two sides meet again in the second match of the three-match series on Wednesday.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
