UAE batsman Alishan Sharafu has tested positive for Covid1-9. Antonie Robertson / The National
UAE batsman Alishan Sharafu has tested positive for Covid1-9. Antonie Robertson / The National
UAE batsman Alishan Sharafu has tested positive for Covid1-9. Antonie Robertson / The National
UAE batsman Alishan Sharafu has tested positive for Covid1-9. Antonie Robertson / The National

Alishan Sharafu third UAE player to test positive for Covid-19


Steve Luckings
  • English
  • Arabic

UAE v Ireland

1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets

2nd ODI, January 12

3rd ODI, January 14

4th ODI, January 16

The UAE's Alishan Sharafu has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the second ODI against Ireland to be pushed back a week, the Emirates Cricket Board confirmed.

Sharafu is the third player to test positive after Chirag Suri and Aryan Lakra ahead of Friday's first ODI in Abu Dhabi.

The 17-year-old made his debut in the national team's six-wicket win against the Irish, scoring 1 run.

The positive result was collected during the latest round of testing on all players and staff in the UAE team bubble on Friday. The ECB said Sharafu is in isolation awaiting transfer by the health authorities to a medical isolation facility.

Subhan Ahmed, Emirates Cricket Board adviser, said: “As part of our Covid-19 safety protocols for this series, all players were required to undergo and provide a negative Covid-19 test prior to entering the Bio-Bubble in Abu Dhabi.

"The tests that were carried out on December 29 were all negative. Players were then isolated in their separate rooms [in the team hotel] for three days. On January 7, Chirag Suri tested positive, followed by Aryan Lakra on January 8.

"Both Chirag and Aryan were isolated in their hotel rooms immediately after testing positive. As all remaining tests were negative, and after the tracing app data was reviewed, no further close contacts were traced.

"In accordance with the authorities’ directives, the isolated players remained in their rooms until the health authorities co-ordinated their move to an official isolation centre, where they remain.

"In the early hours of January 9, and following a seventh test carried out on January 8 on all players and staff in the UAE team bubble, Alishan Sharafu’s test also came back positive."

Emirates Cricket Management, in consultation with Abu Dhabi Cricket and Cricket Ireland, have agreed that the second ODI set to take place on Monday at Zayed Cricket Stadium will now be played next Saturday.

________________________________

UAE beat Ireland by 6 wickets

  • CP Rizwan hit 109 runs off 136 balls for the UAE against Ireland. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    CP Rizwan hit 109 runs off 136 balls for the UAE against Ireland. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
  • Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
    Action from UAE's win over Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Cricket
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Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat

UAE FIXTURES

Friday February 18: v Ireland

Saturday February 19: v Germany

Monday February 21: v Philippines

Tuesday February 22: semi-finals

Thursday February 24: final 

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The biog

Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.

It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.

They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYango%20Deli%20Tech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERetail%20SaaS%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESelf%20funded%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20Color%20Purple
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBlitz%20Bazawule%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFantasia%20Barrino%2C%20Taraji%20P%20Henson%2C%20Danielle%20Brooks%2C%20Colman%20Domingo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

TEAMS

EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson

USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth,​​​​​​​ Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)

At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

UAE v Ireland

1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets

2nd ODI, January 12

3rd ODI, January 14

4th ODI, January 16