A day that started with a world star making a mad dash from Pakistan to play in a Sharjah cup final ended with a fallen India star celebrating the latest step on his career resurrection.
As soon as it was announced the PSL had been postponed on Thursday, Imran Tahir packed his bags, said goodbye to his Multan Sultans colleagues, and made a beeline for the UAE.
The South Africa leg-spin titan had played in two pool matches for InterGlobe Marine in the Bukhatir League before he headed to Pakistan.
He was intent on re-joining his mates in Sharjah for the final of the 46th Bukhatir League, which is the oldest and most prestigious tournament in UAE domestic cricket.
All it needed was a fair wind - and a negative PCR test. As it turned out, neither arrived in time.
Such was the excitement over his arrival, the match was delayed for an hour. Even though the opposition in the final – Bukhatir XI – are nominally the team of the tournament organisers, special dispensation was given for Tahir to join in, right up until the first ball was bowled.
While the sides lined up for the national anthem on the field, Tahir sat in the car park alone outside, refreshing his mobile phone in the hope the report would arrive.
“Imran’s report had not come, so we did not want to take a risk and, quite rightly, the Sharjah management said we couldn’t anyway,” Aman Maulvi, the InterGlobe Marine owner said.
“He wanted to participate in the grand finale. We have a very good relationship with Imran, and he is the one who motivates our team. We were losing some matches, and he came in and lifted up the players.
“When the PSL was postponed, we were immediately on the phone to him, as this is a big tournament.
“We wanted him, because everyone knows what sort of player he is. Single-handedly he can change a match.
“Immediately he did his packing, and within two hours everything was done. But the flight was delayed for five hours, and that was our hard luck.
“He got his report back two or three hours after the match started.”
Luckily for InterGlobe Marine, a shipping company who started entering their staff cricket team in domestic competition six years ago, they already had a decent leg-spinner ready and available.
Rahul Sharma certainly showed his class in the final. He took four wickets as a Bukhatir XI stacked with batting excellence crumbled to 175 all out, setting up a landslide seven-wicket win for InterGlobe Marine.
While this is the leading competition for UAE cricketers, it is fair to say Sharma has played cricket for markedly higher stakes in the past.
After excelling in the IPL, he had played six limited-overs internationals for India up until 2014. He had worn the blue of India alongside Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, and dismissed batsmen of the standing of Kieron Pollard, Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Clarke.
But his career stalled after a back injury following the 2015 IPL, which led to sciatica and then surgery.
Now 34, he still harbours dreams of a return to the top of cricket, and is back training with Punjab’s Ranji Trophy side.
“I felt pain even walking, my rhythm was off when I was bowling, but slowly, slowly I’ve been trying to make it back,” Sharma said.
“Cricket gave me a lot. I’m from a [low-income] family, and they gave me everything so I could play cricket. After that, I want to give back.
“I was blessed to have played with Sachin [Tendulkar], VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid. They were all players when I came into the team, and that was the best moment of my life.”
Coincidentally, playing in the Bukhatir League has meant a return to the ground where he played his penultimate match in big league cricket, when the IPL was exiled to the UAE in 2014.
“I remember watching Sachin Tendulkar playing at this ground,” Sharma said.
“When I was young, we didn’t have a TV, so I had to watch it outside, at someone else’s home.
“Then I came to play here in the 2014 IPL, and those are cherished memories as well. This is the first time I have been back since 2014, so this is a good experience for me.”
Sharma reckons “nobody recognised me” as the player who had hit the heights of his profession, but says he is doing his best to get back to that point.
“I am working hard to get back there, but I am very true to myself,” Sharma said.
“I know I have to prove myself, and try to be perfect. I need to be 35 to 40 per cent better. After surgery, I am getting there, as hopefully you can see here.
“It has been a long time since I played high-level cricket. In four or five years, I have not played many matches.
“But I am getting my rhythm back, I have been training with Punjab probables, and this is a big tournament for me as part of my comeback.
“I have been very low, and nobody recognised me or realised Rahul Sharma was still playing.
"But I know that I will always give 100 per cent because I love this game.”
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Burnley 1 (Brady 89')
Manchester City 4 (Jesus 24', 50', Rodri 68', Mahrez 87')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
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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.
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
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RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The five pillars of Islam
The Programme
Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman
Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills
Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula
Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako
Saturday, December 21: ‘Rams’ (2015) by Grimur Hakonarson
THE%20STRANGERS'%20CASE
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Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Honeymoonish
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Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
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Paltan
Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
