Aayan Khan is a little young to be having to ponder questions about where it all went wrong.
The 20-year-old left-arm spinner remains the whizzkid of UAE cricket. Alongside a select group of world stars of the game, it is his poster that adorns the marketing billboards of the DP World International League T20.
It is four years now since he became the youngest player ever to feature in a T20 World Cup, in Australia.
His ascent was inexorable thereafter. He played ODI cricket just before his 17th birthday, and was serenaded by a massed crowd of Nepal cricket supporters in Kathmandu on that occasion.
He locked in his place in the national team so quickly that he became part of the side’s leadership group.
He was one of the most sought after local players in the draft for the first ILT20, and was part of the inaugural title-winning sides. He has been prized by Gulf Giants in every season since, and has played franchise cricket around the world.
And then he was dropped. He has spent 12 months out of the UAE team, only getting an opening to return when Haider Ali, the new first choice left-arm spinner, had to miss out on a tour to Scotland because of the after effects of injury.
“For the first three years of my career, it was so good. Everything was happening just as I wanted it," Aayan said.
“I played against international teams, ILT20, all the leagues, the World Cup. Everything was so happy for me. And then, suddenly I got dropped.
“At that time, I didn’t know how to react, because I did not see this happening. But then so many players, my mum and dad, everybody spoke to me.
“They pointed out that in this sport, sometimes you will have ups and downs. It was a small phase of my life for me, so it was really important to work hard and to get back in the squad.”
For the first time, he is learning about accepting knockbacks and dealing with them. He hopes it will stand him in good stead in the long term.
“I'm at a small age now; for me to play 15 more years in this team I had to learn everything again, including my game,” Aayan said.
“Now, I have to work harder to be back in the squad. We have a strong team, there are so many players [competing for places], so we need to do really well to be in the squad again.”
His demotion from the national team felt uncomfortable, he said, when he got to the ILT20 to see that his face was plastered all over the walls.
“At first, it was a bit awkward because I had been dropped from the team,” he said. “Then I see all my pics, in the Sharjah Stadium, Dubai Stadium, in big sizes. It was me who was there between all these superstars.
“But, of course, it was a happy moment for me. Everybody saw it, and then they knew who I was.”
The marketing team at the UAE’s T20 franchise league are not the only ones who see star quality in Aayan. As he discusses his situation, in the UAE team room of their hotel in Dundee, he is wearing a big black trenchcoat to ward off the chill of Scottish summer, with a logo that stands out.
It is a pointer to the fact that he recently became a Red Bull athlete, joining a select group of stars to represent the brand in the UAE.
He is less concerned with the prestige that association could bring him as he is with who it means he might get to meet.
“They have [Afghanistan captain] Rashid Khan with them, so hopefully we can have few shoots with him,” he said.
If that does happen, it is easy to imagine Aayan harassing Rashid Khan for tips and advice. He wants to learn, which is why he has been asking Lalchand Rajput, the UAE coach, what he needs to do to get better.
He wants to show he belongs on his return to the side, for the Cricket World Cup League Two tri-series in Dundee. The UAE face hosts Scotland in that on Sunday.
“In the first moment I thought, Alhamdulillah, all thanks to God, he gave me this opportunity again to play for my team,” Aayan said of his recall.
“The next thing is to do well in these games. I have been added into the squad again, and the coach has given me a plan for what I should do in this tour.
“Now my main goal is to make my team win, however I can. We have a few more tours on the way, and it is important for us. My plan is to do whatever I can to make my team win.”
