• Khushi Sharma, right, and her brother Sanchit during a training session in Dubai. All photos by Chris Whiteoak / The National
    Khushi Sharma, right, and her brother Sanchit during a training session in Dubai. All photos by Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • Sanchit Sharma represented UAE with distinction at the U19 World Cup last year.
    Sanchit Sharma represented UAE with distinction at the U19 World Cup last year.
  • Khushi Sharma is an all-rounder.
    Khushi Sharma is an all-rounder.
  • Khushi Sharma has played for UAE at age-group level.
    Khushi Sharma has played for UAE at age-group level.
  • Khushi Sharma and her brother Sanchit.
    Khushi Sharma and her brother Sanchit.
  • Sanchit Sharma is a fast bowler.
    Sanchit Sharma is a fast bowler.
  • Khushi Sharma.
    Khushi Sharma.
  • Khushi Sharma is on the books of the Rajasthan Royals Academy in Dubai.
    Khushi Sharma is on the books of the Rajasthan Royals Academy in Dubai.
  • Khushi Sharma and her brother Sanchit.
    Khushi Sharma and her brother Sanchit.
  • Khushi Sharma models her all-round game on Shane Watson and Ellyse Perry.
    Khushi Sharma models her all-round game on Shane Watson and Ellyse Perry.
  • Khushi Sharma and her brother Sanchit.
    Khushi Sharma and her brother Sanchit.
  • Sanchit Sharma.
    Sanchit Sharma.

'It would be a really great to be selected': The Ajman brother and sister in a race to be first to play senior cricket for UAE


Paul Radley
  • English
  • Arabic

A brother and sister from Ajman are racing each other to be the first to play senior-level international cricket for the UAE.

Sanchit Sharma, 19, represented the national team with distinction at the U19 World Cup earlier this year, and is part of the senior team's extended training squad ahead of one-day internationals against Ireland next month.

Sister Khushi, 18, is also targeting selection for the women's national team, having also played at age-group level.

“Sanchit has played in a World Cup for UAE U19, but we have a tournament coming up, so let’s see if I can get to the UAE team before him,” Khushi said.

“It would be a really great feeling to be selected, and we are both really focused on that.”

If the Sharmas were to make the grade in senior cricket for the UAE, they would become the first brother-sister duo to do so.

Instances of family members playing for the UAE in cricket have been rare. National team batsman Rameez Shahzad is following in the footsteps of his father Shahzad Altaf by playing for the men's team.

Brothers Qais Farooq and Salman Farooq also played a number of times for the senior team between 2007 and 2015.

The fact that each of Sanchit and Khushi Sharma is in contention is remarkable given they were relatively late starters in the game.

Fast-bowler Sanchit took up cricket four years ago, aged 15, mainly as a way to improve his fitness.

Sanchi Sharma. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Sanchi Sharma. Chris Whiteoak / The National

“I was not physically fit at that time, and wasn’t that much interested in it,” Sanchit said.

“I was really overweight. We used to play tennis-ball cricket with our friends, but just for fun.”

His decision to take up the sport had a notable knock-on effect. Namely, that it prompted his sister to do so, too.

“It was because of him, I got the interest from watching him play,” said Khushi, who only started playing cricket two years ago.

“Then Sanchit’s coach [ex-UAE seam bowler Ali Asad Abbas] commended me, because of my height and appearance.

"He suggested I start playing, and thought I could be a fast bowler. Now I am an all-rounder, a middle-order batter and pace bowler.”

Khushi Sharma. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Khushi Sharma. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Khushi models her all-round game on Shane Watson and Ellyse Perry, and tries to imitate Hardik Pandya’s late-over power hitting.

She was recently inducted as a scholar at the Rajasthan Royals Academy in Dubai, meaning she benefits from the expertise of the former Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer, who is the academy's head coach.

“It is a very different experience, as the training is very different to the Indian-style we are used to,” Khushi said.

“The environment is very different to the other academies. These are really great facilities, and Graeme has a nice, friendly attitude to the coaching.”

Sanchit Sharma, left, and sister Khushi. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Sanchit Sharma, left, and sister Khushi. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The fact the Sharmas have an aptitude for the sport is perhaps no surprise.

Their father, Brij Mohan Sharma, played at state level for Haryana in India, before moving to the UAE in 1990 with his job as a mechanical engineer.

Now he dovetails running his business – Khushi Metal Trading ­– with ferrying his two children all over the country from their home in Ajman to pursue the sport.

Both of them are studying the same UK-based university course, remotely at present because of Covid-19, which means they can also focus on furthering themselves in UAE cricket.

“We are doing the same course, so it is easy for me – if I miss a class, she helps me, and the other way round,” Sanchit said.

“We do practice against each other. [If we were to play for UAE] it would be really amazing, especially for our mum and dad, as well as our family back in India, who have been supporting us all the time.”

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Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.

The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.

The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.

The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.

UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.

That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.

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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

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Date started: Okadoc, 2018

Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Healthcare

Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth

Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February

Investors: Undisclosed

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BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

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Cry Macho

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam

Rating:**

England's all-time record goalscorers:
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