When Rohan Mustafa was counting down the final days before he could return to playing for UAE again, he suffered more than a few sleepless nights.
Not because of any agonising that, in the more than three months it had been since he last played international cricket, he might have lost his touch.
Nor, even, because he had lost the captaincy of his national team, as a consequence of the fall-out from his eight-week suspension for breaching the UAE's code of conduct.
Instead, his lack of shut eye was for far more positive reasons. Mustafa’s wife, Salma Durrani, gave birth to their first child on February 17.
Getting a young baby into any sort of sleeping pattern is difficult enough, but the newly arrived boy has also had to cope with jet-lag.
Arhaam was born on the other side of the world in Chile, where Mustafa’s brother lives, and where his wife had been for the previous two months in the lead up to the birth.
Given the recent travails he has suffered in his workplace – suspended in December, loss of the captaincy, missing an international series against Nepal – Mustafa was in need of a pick-me-up. He could not have had a better one.
“I went over there after the Nepal series [which finished in the first week of Fenruary], and we came back together,” Mustafa said.
“It is great. A lot of people told me that, when you have a kid, it will change your life and the way you think, and that is true.
“Whenever I feel sad, whatever happens to me, if I don’t perform in cricket, whenever I go to him, I forget everything.”
And, on his long-awaited return to the national team, Mustafa was straight back into the old routine against the United States.
After the first match of a two-game Twenty20 international series was washed out on Friday without a result, the former captain played an influential role in bringing about a series-deciding win on Saturday.
He made 45 at the top of the order, sharing in a 81-run stand with Shaiman Anwar, who was named man of the match for his 62 from 30 balls, as UAE made 182-7 in their 20 overs.
Mustafa then took 1-22 with the ball in four miserly overs, as the home team closed out a 24-run win at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
He said he was glad to be back in the side, given the troubled recent past.
“It was weird time, but I think it was good for the team as well,” Mustafa said.
“A few people were given their chance, and if you want to go higher you have to have back up as well.
“We worked hard on our mistakes. Bad batting has been one of our weaknesses, so working on that helped us in this match.”
It was noticeable that Mustafa seldom offered advice to Mohammed Naveed, his successor as captain, until the slog was on in the final overs.
“I play for my team,” Mustafa said. “Whoever the captain is, to be honest, I really don’t care.
“I spoke to Naveed in the first match, and today as well. A couple of decisions were according to me.
“We were doing well, and the team was going well, so there was nothing to advise him on.”
Steven Taylor top-scored for the second day in succession for the touring side, but the USA faltered once he fell for 49.
“I felt if I could bat through to the end, maybe there could still be a chance for USA,” Taylor said.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Tickets
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 0
Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')
SPECS
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000