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.
“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 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.”
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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Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
IF YOU GO
The flights: FlyDubai offers direct flights to Catania Airport from Dubai International Terminal 2 daily with return fares starting from Dh1,895.
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
THREE
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The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
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