Bangladesh cricket fans say their dream has come true as their national team prepares to take on India in the Asia Cup final in Dubai.
Defending champions India will be hot favourites to clinch the title for a seventh time as Bangladesh strive for their first major international trophy after stunning Pakistan to make the final.
Bangladesh will be outnumbered in the stands and many expect them to be outmatched on the pitch, but fans remain hopeful they can pull off a surprise win.
And for the Indian supporters, Friday’s event offers them a rare chance to be there to see their team lift a trophy.
The game will captivate much of the Emirates, with an estimated 3.5 million Indians and 500,000 Bangladeshis calling the UAE home.
Indian fan Siddhi Pagarani said she was excited and wanted to see how her heroes responded to pressure in the big event.
“Watching an international match live in the stadium is a dream come true,” said Siddhi, 16, an all-rounder who has been training with the UAE women’s cricket team since 2014.
On the bench this season with a knee injury, she will take mental notes on how Indian cricketers step up.
Siddhi was in the crowd for India’s two thumping victories over arch-rivals Pakistan during the tournament along with her brothers Darshan, 13, and Shantanu, 11.
“The matches were great experiences because this is the best rivalry I can think of,” she said. “It was a whole different atmosphere.
“Indians and Pakistanis in the crowd were having fun, even if their side was not winning. It’s as if the whole stadium were friends for a long time. There was no tension or rivalry.”
Siddhi’s cricket-loving family watched Indian Premier League Twenty20 games in the UAE and one-day internationals against Australia back home.
A leg spinner who bats at No 4 and the only girl on her school team, she believes the Indian side’s resilience will come to the fore in the final.
“It will be the confidence of every player that matters because everyone will have to pitch in,” Siddhi said. “Their body language will also matter. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have to score and Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] has to get wickets too.”
_______________
Read more:
Bangladesh 'haven't played our best cricket yet', Mushfiqur Rahim warns India ahead of Asia Cup final
Asia Cup 2018 final: how India and Bangladesh reached the championship game
Cricket fans counting hours, days, weeks and months until India vs Pakistan in UAE
_______________
Darshan plans to take an air horn and an India flag to Friday’s game. He plays for his school team as a leg-spinner and middle-order batsman who learns a lot from watching the national team in action.
“When we play in school we don’t feel the game as intensely, we are not always fully in the match,” he said.
“But on the field, you could see how everyone is alert. They support each other and give high-fives.”
Shantanu is also on the school team. He lost his voice cheering in earlier matches and will not be surprised if it happens again in the finals.
“I couldn’t speak the whole night,” he said. “It was such a different experience. I just wanted the ball to come to me when it got hit into the crowd. To me the most important thing is India winning.”
Bangladeshi UAE resident Abdul Kalam, 46, will be checking his team’s progress during breaks from work at Dubai International Airport.
He believes Bangladesh, or the Tigers, can beat the odds.
“The team has a lot of determination,” said Abdul, who has lived in the UAE for eight years. “If they concentrate and work hard, they have a good chance of winning.”
Most men in his Deira workers’ accommodation watch the game in their rooms, glued to their mobiles phones.
“We don’t have a television in the room because all of us are on different day or night shifts and need to sleep,” Abdul said. “But we have Wi-Fi so we put on headphones and watch the game.”
Student Usama Zafar, 21, will be there despite Pakistan losing by 37 runs on Wednesday.
“Cricket is my first love. I watch games regardless of the team. I’m a diehard fan of cricket and not just of my team,” Usama said.
As testimony to the camaraderie of the Asia Cup matches, he will go to the game at Dubai International Cricket Stadium with his Indian friends.
I will not miss the match because the atmosphere in the stadium is electrifying.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
Story%20behind%20the%20UAE%20flag
%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20flag%20was%20first%20unveiled%20on%20December%202%2C%201971%2C%20the%20day%20the%20UAE%20was%20formed.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIt%20was%20designed%20by%20Abdullah%20Mohammed%20Al%20Maainah%2C%2019%2C%20an%20Emirati%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMr%20Al%20Maainah%20said%20in%20an%20interview%20with%20%3Cem%3EThe%20National%3C%2Fem%3E%20in%202011%20he%20chose%20the%20colours%20for%20local%20reasons.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20black%20represents%20the%20oil%20riches%20that%20transformed%20the%20UAE%2C%20green%20stands%20for%20fertility%20and%20the%20red%20and%20white%20colours%20were%20drawn%20from%20those%20found%20in%20existing%20emirate%20flags.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
