“Hey please tell me if the entire Champions Trophy is moving to UAE, I have got a definite news, PCB’s Salman Naseer and Samir Syed have gone to Dubai on an emergency basis”.
After arriving in Dubai from Saudi Arabia, I was just getting ready to go to bed when suddenly a phone call from a friend from Pakistan interrupted my sleep. He is giving kind of stories but there is no truth in them, the schedule that has been released will be followed.
After that I contacted a senior PCB person and he also termed it as “fake news”.
The ICC sources also said the same, the Pakistani board officials came here to settle the issues of revenue share etc. from the Emirates board, by the way, negative news will not stop coming from India until the Champions Trophy is over.
An ICC event is taking place in our country after a long time and clearly the neighbors are not happy about it, these days ILT Twenty is going on in UAE, Pakistan’s Fakhr Zaman, Mohammad Amir and Azam Khan are participating in it. are
Last year, Shaheen Shah Afridi also came, Pakistani cricketers are representing the same team Desert Vipers, I reached the team hotel and greeted Aamir in the lobby. The team’s director of cricket, Tom Moody, spoke to the team, he described the presence of Pakistani cricketers as excellent and appreciated the talent of the trio, especially Fakhar, who seemed happy to be with him.
There was also a conversation with UAE’s young all-rounder Ali Naseer, he scored a half-century against West Indies in his debut match in 2023, he belongs to Karachi, he is also receiving good advice from Pakistani cricketers. Aamir taught to slow bowl, he also wants to learn the art of hitting sixes with pride.
Ali told an interesting thing that when Azam Khan initially came for net practice, he played such powerful shots that only 5, 6 balls were lost.
From there I went to the Dubai Cricket Stadium where the captains’ press conference was held, the organizers unveiled the trophy in a unique way that made the captains look like they were working as ground staff.
One handled the mower, others were seen driving the roller, Sikandar Raza was fixing the bales, others were doing similar work and posed with the trophy, later speaking to the media about the preparations for the tournament.
Some of the Indian journalists there asked me after the press conference, “Will Pakistan be able to host the Champions Trophy?” I told them that the videos you are playing are old, now quite The work of the stadiums has been completed, the event will be well organized, I also showed some videos of the stadiums in my mobile phone, in which most of the work was seen complete.
Next day the appointment was fixed with Fakhar, when he reached ICC Academy, he was seen doing net practice, after that he also ran, also met Azam Khan, he is happy playing leagues these days, in the World Cup. He didn’t get regular opportunities and then dropped out of the team.
Azam still hopes to return to the national team in the future, Fakhar is more of a good person than a good cricketer. Showed determination, when I told him that if Saeem Ayub was not fit, what a great scene it would have been if he and you had opened, Fakhr was also very sorry for Saeem’s injury.
In the evening I went to the stadium where the opening ceremony of the ILT Twenty was held, in which Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor, Sonam and Pooja performed, there was also a huge firework display. Staying in UK for months on business, he was missed.
Wasim Akram has come for commentary, got a chance to talk with him, he seemed happy that the Champions Trophy dispute was resolved, he said that there should be cricket, Wasimbhai said while appreciating Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi. That he has an energetic personality and is working hard to fix Pakistan cricket.
Shoaib Akhtar also featured prominently in the opening ceremony, a video of him recently surfaced in a shopping mall in Dubai, where he is seen walking through a cluster of security guards like Shah Rukh and Salman Khan, despite being harassed. is not
Shoaib is very impressed by these two actors and it is clear from his behavior, Wasim Akram has been a bigger cricketer than him, he will never show you doing anything like that, Sikandar Raza during the prize distribution ceremony at the ground after the first match. As soon as he saw me, he said that you were in Medina, when did you come here? I told him that I came yesterday. When I came down from the elevator, I met a man outside the door who follows me on Twitter. would work And during the opening ceremony Tesla car was brought by his company.
I also took photos of Elon Musk with this unique electronic car. The next day I went to Sikandar Raza’s team Delhi Capitals Hotel Palm Jumeirah and interviewed him there. They are planning to come to Pakistan several days ago.
There was also a conversation with Sri Lankan cricketer Dison Shanaka, from there he came to the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, there he met Waqar Younis who has come for commentary.
The biggest advantage of such events is that you get to meet cricketers from all over the world including Pakistan. My visit to UAE was short and now I am preparing to return home soon. As the board continues to improve its league every season, it may give a tough time to many other leagues in the future.
(Note: You can follow me on Twitter @saleemkhaliq)
