After four and a half years of struggling to make ends meet in Dubai, Sohaib Khan became the hero of one of the UAE’s greatest days in cricket – just 12 kilometres away from where his journey had first started.
The little-known batter announced himself to a global audience with a stunning display of hitting to help the national team to just their third ever win at a World Cup.
Sohaib hit four sixes in a thrilling 29 ball innings of 51 to lay the platform for their five-wicket win over Canada at the T20 World Cup in Delhi.
The site of his heroics was the Arun Jaitley Stadium, which is just across the city from where Sohaib first fostered serious aspirations in the sport.
Originally from Bihar, near India’s north-eastern border with Nepal, he moved to the country’s capital to study sociology and pursue cricket.
He played representative cricket while studying at Jamia Millia Islamia, a public research university in Delhi. He played professionally from 2014 to 2019, before Covid altered his course.
Newly married in 2021, he opted to move to Dubai that November to try to support his family after having a baby daughter.
UAE defeat Canada – in pictures
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UAE's Aryansh Sharma scored a match-winning fifty against Canada in their T20 World Cup clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. AFP -
Aryansh Sharma, left, and Sohaib Khan hit sparkling fifties to guide the UAE to victory. AFP -
UAE's Junaid Siddique celebrates taking the wicket of Canada's Saad Bin Zafar. AFP -
Canada's Harsh Thaker after reaching fifty. AFP -
UAE's Junaid Siddique, right, finished with five wickets on Friday. AFP -
UAE's Muhammad Jawadullah celebrates taking the wicket of Canada's Nicholas Kirton. AFP
“For six months I didn’t have a job to survive,” Sohaib said. “I took some money from my family, and borrowed some from my friends, and after six months I got my first job.
“After one and a half years I started my cricket journey in Dubai. Those four years were a struggle, but I think God has paid me now.”
He landed a job as a financial consultant for an investment company, and his talent for cricket quickly found him suitors in the UAE domestic game. Still, it meant full days at the office before he could give any consideration for cricket.
“The infrastructure [in the UAE] is such that we play cricket at night and work during the day,” Sohaib said. “So that's what I did. For the last four to five months, I've been playing proper cricket there.”
He only earned his first UAE cap in October and – although his batting has always been very pleasing on the eye in that time – his tangible returns had been negligible.
At least they were until the biggest stage he had played on to date. Playing in the T20 World Cup, in the city he once called home, he saved a game that had seemed lost.
He contributed 51 to a stand of 84 with Aryansh Sharma in just seven overs, as the UAE chased 151 to win. Although he fell with victory just one run away, he had made himself a hero.
“The strategy was quite simple,” Sohaib said, reasoning that there was no reason for stress as he had faced similar situations in tennis-ball cricket in the past.
“We were requiring only 12 runs per over. As MS Dhoni said, when you are on the pitch and it is a pressure game, just back yourself and be calm. I was thinking the same.”
Sohaib credited his partner, Aryansh, who ended up undefeated on 74 at the end, and the side’s coaching staff for giving him the confidence to succeed.
“Before me and Aryansh, I would like to give the biggest credit to our coach Lalchand Rajput and the entire management,” he said.
“When I was going to bat, they were saying only one thing: just believe in yourself. This is the time; you can do it.
“The way they have worked on me for the past two months … because only two months back, I made my debut in ODI, that was his belief.
“After going in, Aryansh was so confident, and his positivity was rubbing off on me.
“From every ball he was like, ‘No, we will do it. We'll do it.’ You can see his expressions in the highlights of the match. So that was the game.”
