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By K.R. Nayar Dubai.     Though there is rivalry in cricket between Indians and Pakistanis, there is no animosity between the fans. All of them were seated together to watch the action on Sunday at the Dubai International stadium. After the match, they indulged in intense post-mortem of the match in a sporting manner. It was interesting to hear the various views from them. Pakistan supporters feel that had Virat Kohli been caught in the first over by Fakhar Zaman, they would have won the match. Among the Indian fans, there were pro as well as anti Kohli fans.  This story was published in The Telegraph, India  Supporters of Kohli feel that it was Kohli who showed the way to victory through his brilliant shots. The anti-Kohli fans felt that he played the most irresponsible shot despite all his experience to get out.  Virat Kohli arrives for practice at the ICC Academy  Almost all Pakistan fans seemed confident that they will win the rest of the matches, to ...

By K.R. Nayar Dubai.  Fans seated near the press box quickly make placards hailing Hardik Pandya, the hero of India’s win against Pakistan. One of them called him the ‘Neymar of India’ after the Brazilian soccer star. Another placard said: ‘Hairy Hardik’ since he sports funky hairstyles many a times. One journalist was curious to know what his real nickname was. Interestingly, he must be the cricketer with the maximum number of nicknames due to his flamboyant approach to life. This story was published in The Telegraph, India  Hardik’s brother Krunal Pandya cheered for his brother from the stands. It is said that they were called ‘Maggi brothers’ due to their love for Maggi noodles during their growing up years.  Hardik’s power-hitting had made a few call him ‘Kung Fu Pandya’. He has also been addressed as ‘Rockstar Pandya.’ Hardik wears many tattoos, and one of them says ‘Never give up’. Since Hardik was the star of the night, the media expected him for the post match...

By K.R. Nayar Dubai. Fazalhaq Farooqi, who destroyed the Sri Lankan batting with a spell of 3 for 11, exploited his familiarity with the conditions in the UAE to earn success. Farooqi plays for Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament and has often produced match winning spells for them. His Delhi Bulls colleagues call him ‘The Silent Assassin.’ Dwayne Bravo who captains Delhi Bulls considers him as the ‘Man with the Golden Arm’. This story was published in The Telegraph, India    From being a net bowler for Kings XI Punjab in 2020 and for Chennai Super Kings in 2021 during the Indian Premier League, he has progressed rapidly.  After he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2022 Indian Premier League, he was also signed up by Colombo Stars for the postponed Lanka Premier League 2022.  When Delhi Bulls hailed Fazalhaq Farooqi during the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 In fact, Farooqi had  made his T20 International debut against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi in 2021. Wh...

By K.R. Nayar Cricket fans are a patient lot. Despite the temperature hovering over 40 degrees they waited for hours to catch a glimpse of their star cricketers while alighting and returning to their team buses. When Team India arrived, some fans tried to jump the rails and rush to the cricketers. But they could not break the cordon made by the well-built security men who looked like bouncers. Many kept cheering for Virat Kohli as he came out of the bus and he even obliged a fan with a selfie. If Kohli was the star Indian fans were cheering for, Pakistan fans cheered for their skipper Babar Azam. Rohit Sharma won the hearts of Pakistan fans when he shook hands with Pakistan fans and giving one of them a near hug over the railing making them all shout out “we love you Rohit”. This story was published in The Telegraph, India  No political flags please Dubai Police has warned fans not to carry political flags and banners to the stadium. However, the Pakistan team had their flag po...

By K.R. Nayar The ICC Academy is where all teams for the Asia Cup commencing from August 27 train. Many fans of various teams gathered to have a glimpse of their favourite players. Since no one is allowed inside the Academy, the only chance to spot cricketers is while they alight from their respective buses. Though the tournament commences with the Afghanistan-Sri Lanka match, the buzz around is about the India-Pakistan match. “Do you have a ticket for the India-Pakistan match,” is what most cricket fans want to know after all tickets for this match were sold out in a flash. So much so that when the Sri Lankan skipper Bhanuka Rajapakse addressed a press conference, questions were on the importance of India-Pakistan match. He politely replied his focus would be on his team.  This story was published in The Telegraph, India  Vision only, but invisible  This time, even the media were allowed to watch Team India train only from a distance at the ICC Academy. Since photo...

By K.R. Nayar Surinder Khanna, hero of the first Asia Cup in 1984 who bagged the Player of the Series award, never misses to visit the Sharjah Cricket Stadium when in the UAE. It was at this venue that he had scored back-to-back half centuries to ensure India lifts the Asia Cup for the first time, and that is always nostalgic for him. Very often while travelling with him from Dubai to this venue, he often narrates his memories of that historic match. He was in Dubai last week and we recalled incidents from that match once again before he set out to visit the Sharjah Stadium as he always does. A fan lifts Surinder Khanna's bat after his match-winning knock in Sharjah in 1984 “It’s very nostalgic. It takes me back so many years. It was a 50-over match and not a T20 like this oncoming edition. No one had played any international matches here then and the feeling of scoring those half centuries and winning the trophy for India is difficult to explain in words. ...

By K.R. Nayar The Asia Cup has its own aura although it has had to survive many obstacles and did not take place every two years due to various reasons. However, some of the finest players in the game have displayed their skills and enthralled fans, among them being a future Prime Minister, Imran Khan. He had captained Pakistan in the 1986 edition that was held in Sri Lanka.  Imran Khan during his playing days  Like the first Asia Cup in 1984 was named after the cigarette company Rothmans, the second in 1986 too was backed by another cigarette company John Player Gold Leaf.   India had pulled out of this tournament due to political reasons. Imran Khan could not lead Pakistan to victory in that tournament. In the final, Sri Lanka led by Duleep Mendis won by five wickets. The hero of the match was Arjuna Ranatunga who cracked a match winning 57. Ranatunga also won the Player of the Series, and later went on to captain Sri Lanka to their World Cup triumph ...

By K.R. Nayar  Ali Anwar Jafri, a former UAE domestic cricket star and joint secretary of Sharjah Cricket Council, has been a witness to everything leading to the first Asia Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. He has a treasure of interesting stories since he has been a part of Sharjah Cricket for decades.  Ali Anwar Jafri  Before the Asia Cup was held in Sharjah and the stadium earned the honour of becoming an international cricket venue, a one-day match was held in 1981 between  Gavaskar XI versus Miandad XI,  and a two-day double wicket event in 1982. The large turn-out for these matches was one of the reasons that prompted Abdulrehman Bukhatir to stage the Asia Cup in 1984 at this venue. Sunil Gavaskar during the 1984 Asia Cup Jafri recalled how Gavaskar was called 'Javad Askar' by an Arabic newspaper. “A leading Arabic newspaper wrote Gavaskar's name as ‘Javad Askar. In the Arabic language, there is no word starting with Gav and hence they wrote his n...