Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman has backed Saim Ayub to bounce back from injury and establish himself as one of the world’s top three batters.
Ayub, 22, has enjoyed a sensational start to his professional career, but he suffered an ankle fracture in Pakistan’s Test match against South Africa in Cape Town last week.
The injury is set to rule him out of action for six weeks. It makes him a doubt for Pakistan’s squad when they bid to retain the Champions Trophy next month.
Fakhar has himself been absent from national duty for Pakistan since the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean last June.
He is now in Dubai gearing up for his debut DP World International League T20 campaign with his new franchise, the Desert Vipers.
He is targeting a comeback to Pakistan colours for the Champions Trophy, which will be staged in part on home soil, with India’s matches set to be played in Dubai.
He insists his return will happen whether or not Ayub returns to fitness in time.
“Saim is such a great talent,” Fakhar said. “Even if he was fit or he was not in the team, I would have been there in the team.
“I spoke to the selectors, the head coach and everybody wanted me in the Champions Trophy so it is not the case [they were vying for the same spot].
“I hope and believe he will recover quickly, and I was thinking yesterday to call Saim just to talk to him about this injury.
“Believe me, he is such a great player that if he continues to play for the next four to five years, he will be at the top and he will be the No 1, 2 or 3 player in the world.”
Fakhar might be 12 years senior to Ayub, but the 34 year-old opener is confident he still has plenty to give his national team himself.
“A hundred percent I will play for Pakistan [again],” Fakhar said. “Actually, many people do not know about that, but after the T20 World Cup I got sick and because of the medical condition I was not fit, so I was not a part of the team.
“But now I recovered 100 percent, and you will see me in the next international series which Pakistan plays.”
Fakhar first came to prominence in the Pakistan Super League when the initial seasons of that T20 competition were played in the UAE due to security concerns back at home.
He subsequently graduated to the full Pakistan side. His finest moment to date in their colours was when he made a match-winning hundred against India in the final at The Oval in London when the Champions Trophy was last played in 2017.
Given his affinity with that competition, he was always hopeful of making it to the Pakistan squad as the tournament returns after an eight-year hiatus next month.
“My plan has been around the Champions Trophy,” he said. “I did not play in the Australia tour or in the South Africa tour, so my whole plan was just to play in the Champions Trophy to make myself available and to be fully fit for the tournament.
“That was in the back of my mind, and I am thankful, and I am lucky to be fit right now. I started from the Champions Trophy 2017 and that went really well for me and now I am very excited for the next edition also.”
Fakhar will be returning to venues he knows well when he plays at the ILT20, having first cut his teeth in franchise cricket here with Lahore Qalandars in the PSL.
He is the second Pakistani in the Vipers side this season, joining another of the stars from that 2017 Champions Trophy win, Mohammed Amir.
Last season, the side also employed three other Pakistanis - Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Azam Khan – and Tom Moody, their director of cricket, was happy to add the “true match-winner” Fakhar ahead of the new campaign.
“They talk really highly about this team, the environment, the management, the way they play the cricket and the way their mindset is,” Fakhar said of the feedback he received from his compatriots about the Vipers.
“So, when I got the offer, without any discussion with anyone, I said ‘yes, I would love to play for this team.’
“I was really excited and, to be honest, I was supporting this team even before I was a part of this, so I am really excited to be here and I am very happy.”
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
