Vriitya Aravind said the Desert Vipers had helped revive his love for cricket after winning the ILT20 on Sunday night.
The 23-year-old wicketkeeper has had his faith in the sport tested by an ongoing absence from the UAE national team.
His time in the wilderness followed a fine start to his international career, having initially been fished out of school to play for a national team in crisis.
Despite his youth, he is already the UAE’s leading run-scorer in one-day international cricket. But when the national team’s squad is announced for the 2026 T20 World Cup this week, his name is almost certain to be absent from the list.
He was given a chance to revive his career in franchise cricket this season, having become the first player picked at the ILT20 auction back in October.
It wasn’t the ultimate cash bonanza some of his UAE colleagues enjoyed – he went for his base price of $10,000 to the Vipers – but it was the guarantee of a gig.
That was all he had been asking for, and he promptly established himself as a highly popular member of the title-winning Vipers squad.
In successive nights in the middle of the league phase of the competition, he played a key role off the final ball for the Vipers, first hitting the runs which forced a Super Over, then picking up a run out to clinch a win.
He also distinguished himself with his glovework, in the final, in which the Vipers beat MI Emirates by 46 runs to clinch the title for the first time.
“This is one of the best days ever,” Aravind said. “The Vipers gave me a second chance, and when they picked me, I told them I would do anything in my hands to make sure we won it this year. The fact we have won it is the best thing ever.
“The environment they have created meant I have started enjoying the game again, for sure.
“When times are tough, you stop enjoying the sport. It is results-based and you are always thinking about getting back in, scoring runs, and doing the best you can.
“When you are in an environment like this, where you can just enjoy it, I think it brings the best out in me. It is always good to be in a winning team.”
The previous season, Aravind was without a contract for the UAE's franchise league. He was supporting the Vipers in the final back then, as two of his close mates were involved, when they eventually succumbed against Dubai Capitals.
Eleven months on, he thought he was going to have a watching brief again. Andries Gous was all set to keep wicket for the Vipers, only to succumb to the calf strain he had been carrying.
They were big boots – and gloves – to fill. The South Africa-born USA international had smashed a century in the qualifier play-off, which had sent the Vipers straight through to the final.
Despite having 10 minutes notice that he was playing, Aravind said he was prepared.
“I was always ready for it as it was always my dream to play a final,” Aravind said.
“In the last final, I was sat there [in the main stand] watching Vipers play, supporting my friends Dhruv Parashar and Ali Naseer, who were in the team.
“I was always ready for it and when Fozzie [coach James Foster] gave me the thumbs up, I was really excited to go in.”
Wicketkeepers might prefer to go unnoticed, but Aravind was conspicuous during two big moments in the final.
The first was when he claimed an edge to remove Muhammad Waseem, his long-time UAE captain and teammate, off the bowling of Khuzaima Tanveer.
The dismissal cemented the Vipers’ advantage, and Aravind knew it, throwing the ball wildly into the air in celebration.
Later in the innings, he deftly pouched a sharp take down the legside off a wide by Usman Tariq. Although the delivery was basically inconsequential, it did suggest that Aravind was perhaps the only person in the stadium who could read the Pakistani mystery spinner.
“As the wicketkeeper, I have a little bit more time than the batsman,” Aravind said.
“As soon as [Tariq] landed [as a replacement player late in the tournament], I just wanted to keep to him whenever I could.
“I knew Gous was going to be the first-choice wicketkeeper, but I wanted to be ready, and it is a good experience for me to keep against someone like Usman.
“I tried to do that as much as possible in the nets, and before the game as well. I think I’ve got a little bit of an idea, but I don’t think anyone can pick him. You have to go with the flow.”
