As an aspiring left-arm spinner, Rahul Bhatia, the new teenaged recruit in the UAE squad, had some obvious role models growing up.
He is an Indian national, so Ravindra Jadeja was always going to be near the top of the list.
Then there was Daniel Vettori. The parallels to the New Zealand great are many for the Dubai-raised spinner. For example, Bhatia hopes to debut for his own senior national team, when the UAE play in the Asia Cup Qualifier in Malaysia, while still a teenager, just as Vettori did 21 years ago.
And Bhatia, too, wears glasses while playing. He does so neither as a show of hero-worship for Vettori, nor as a statement of hipster cool, but rather out of necessity.
Vettori played in glasses because of the discomfort caused to him by the disinfectant solution applied to contact lenses. “I think I am allergic to that, too,” Bhatia said.
The bespectacled youngster is on his first tour with the senior team, having impressing at the Under 19 version of the Asia Cup Qualifier at the end of last year.
He took 18 wickets in five games in that qualifying event, which was played on the same grounds in Kuala Lumpur where UAE will be bidding for success over the coming 10 days.
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Read more on Asian Cup:
Asia Cup 2018 Qualifier: All you need to know and the players to watch
India v Pakistan and other Asia Cup match tickets in UAE to go on sale
Paul Radley: UAE's incentive to win Asia Cup Qualifier is chance to play actual tournament at home
UAE cricketers in race against time to reach Canada for inaugural Global T20
UAE cricketers proud of progress even as Asia Cup qualification next target
As UAE prepare for World Twenty20 Qualifier, Mustafa lends a helping hand
Dubai's chance to host India-Pakistan cricket fixture was long time coming
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The winners of the six-team tournament will get to play against the continent’s leading sides in the Asia Cup, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi next month.
“It is very exciting that the Asia Cup tournament is here in UAE,” Bhatia, who dovetails playing cricket with studying for a degree at Heriot Watt University in Dubai.
“Playing in your home town against such countries would be an amazing opportunity.”
The presence of the likes of Bhatia and Fahad Nawaz, an 18-year-old allrounder making his second trip with the senior team, shows such opportunities are becoming increasingly open to young players growing up in the UAE.
Whatever tournament the national team play in, their squad routinely has the highest average age. Generally, in the past this has been because of a reliance on players who have arrived from overseas, and had to serve a lengthy residential qualifying period before joining the representative team.
Now, though, the profile of the squad is altering. Rohan Mustafa, the captain, Rameez Shahzad and Ahmed Raza – all grew up together in UAE. Now age 29, 30 and 29 respectively, they have been the core of the side for some while now.
UAE-raised teenagers Bhatia and Nawaz have been elevated to the senior squad directly as a result of their exploits for the national U19 team. And just further down the age scale, talented schoolboys Yodhin Punja and Jonathan Figy also trained with the senior team this summer. The former is on standby for the Qualifier in Malaysia, should injury occur.
Each of the young prospects may be a little way from displacing the established players in the senior XI.
But Dougie Brown, the UAE coach, is sure they have a key role to play in the immediate future of the national team.
“We are assuming spin is going to play a fairly big part in Malaysia,” Brown said.
“That being the case, we know we need to cover our spin bowling resources. Whether we play three spinners in a game or not remains to be seen, but we need to have cover in case the likes of Imran Haider or Ahmed Raza pick up a niggle.
“[Bhatia] has done really well. In the Asia Cup U19, he was one of the leading wicket-takers in the whole tournament. Based on what we have seen, he has a lot to offer us.
“He is still a young player learning his trade, but he is coming into an environment that has been very buoyant for the last little while, and it is a great opportunity for him, even if he doesn’t play, to learn.”
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Day 2, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.
Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.
The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.
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The specs
Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric
Transmission: n/a
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 659Nm
Price estimate: Dh200,000
On sale: Q3 2022
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
Rankings
ATP: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,955 pts; 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,320; 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6,475 ( 1); 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 5,060 ( 1); 6. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4,845 ( 1); 6. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,600 (-3); 7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,110 ( 2); 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,960; 9. John Isner (USA) 3,155 ( 1); 10. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,140 (-3)
WTA: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7,030 pts ( 3); 2. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6,290 ( 4); 3. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,582 (-2); 4. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,307 ( 1); 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,100 ( 3); 6. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,965 (-4); 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,940; 8. Kiki Bertens (NED) 4,430 ( 1); 9. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3,566 (-6); 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,485 ( 1)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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