T20 WC: Staying calm to make UAE win in Dhoni’s way – how Sohaib Khan pulled off a great escape

New Delhi, Feb 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) With the evening glow in full view at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, tension was palpable in the UAE dugout - 85 runs needed off 45 balls and Canada's spinners tightening the noose in a chase of 151. Wicketkeeper-batter Aryansh Sharma, born in Noida but raised in Dubai, was leading the UAE’s charge, but was running out of partners from the other end.

When a little-known Sohaib Khan joined him, many felt the native of Kothi village in Bihar's Naxal-affected Imamganj region would fall cheaply, considering that he was yet to set the international cricket arena alight. But then, Sohaib had the wise words of the legendary MS Dhoni in his mind.

Not the words spoken in World Cup triumphs or winning the IPL trophy five times, but it was one golden piece of advice from the Dhoni book of philosophy, which stayed with Sohaib - the one who is calm when chaos comes, turns pressure into possibility.

What transpired was a heist – Sohaib smacked a blistering 51 off 29 balls that resurrected UAE’s chase of 151 and took them over the line with two balls to spare. A sensational knock laced with four boundaries and four sixes that gave UAE just their third win ever at a major ICC event.

"The strategy was quite simple. We were requiring only 12 runs per over. So as MS Dhoni said, when you are on the pitch and if it requires more pressure, game. So just back yourself, be calm. That's okay, as I was thinking the same," Sohaib would say later in the post-match press conference, his eyes still carrying the disbelief of what had just transpired.

At 68/4 in the 13th over, the UAE appeared destined for collecting their second loss in as many games. Their batting pillars - Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu, both half-centurions in a losing cause against New Zealand days earlier - had departed cheaply. Canada's left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar had ripped through the middle order, his 3-14 putting the game beyond the UAE’s reach.

But Sohaib, the financial consultant who worked days and played cricket under Dubai's floodlights, turned the game on its head to get a famous victory for the UAE. Incidentally, the win came in the city where he started serious cricket barely a dozen years ago in the corridors of the prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia, where he did his 10+2 studies and graduated with a degree in Sociology.

“All I can say - this was my home where I started professional cricket. I played around three to four years from 2014 to 19 and played two consecutive North Zone tournaments from Jamia - 2017 and 2018.

"Honestly speaking, this is beyond the game. When I came out to bat on the wicket, I was thinking this was the situation. I moved to the UAE in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was not getting many opportunities here.

“I was married, and my daughter and my wife were there. I thought this was the game - what I can do my best. I have struggled a lot in the past 4-5 years. If I get this phase, then it's okay - what else can I ask from God?" he said.

With a compact stance and middling the ball well, the Sohaib show was on for 6325 fans in the stadium. Dilon Heyliger's 17th over disappeared for 17 runs — a six over midwicket, a lofted four over mid-off, and another maximum straight into the sight-screen. Jaskarandeep Singh fared no better in the 18th, conceding a four and six off the first two deliveries.

By the time he reached his half-century off just 28 balls, UAE needed eight off the final over. The impossible had become inevitable. Eleven runs through long-on, 16 through midwicket - it told how Sohaib had a simple plan to dismantle Canada.

But the real narrative was in the eyes of a man who'd played tennis-ball cricket in a village with barely any facilities, who'd juggled stock market consultancy with night cricket in the UAE.

"At that time, the situation was tense as twelve runs per over were required. So I thought to back my instinct and just back my natural talent to do what I was doing that time. The mindset was to target the small boundary in front of us, and whatever kind of ball we got, we had to hit the boundary. Anyway, we were requiring one six or one boundary in an over," Sohaib said.

None of it would have mattered without Aryansh at the other end. The pair added 84 runs, with Aryansh's unbeaten 74 off 53 balls providing the anchor to Sohaib's storm. Before going out to bat, words of belief from head coach, former India opener Lalchand Rajput, and positivity from Aryansh rubbed well on Sohaib.

"Before Aryansh and me, I would like to give the biggest credit to our coach, Lalchand Rajput, and the entire management. When I was going to bat, they were saying only one thing - just believe in yourself. This is the time; you can do it. The way they have worked on me over the past two months is because I am a debutant right now in the setup.

“Two months earlier, I made my debut in ODI and came to the T20I setup, that was his belief. After going in, Aryansh was so confident that his positivity was coming to me, that we could do it. From every ball, he was like, 'No, we will do it. We'll do it.' You can see his expressions in the highlights of the match. So that was the game part," he said.

Though Sohaib top-edged in the final over to depart with UAE needing one off three balls, by then, he had written the script in his team’s favour. Sohaib’s journey from Kothi village to this moment had been anything but straight.

Sohaib's father, Adeeb Khan, alias Jugnu Khan, a farmer and social worker, always gave priority to the education of his kids. When cricket came into the picture for Sohaib, who began playing the sport as a six-year-old, the family gave him full support. To date, Sohaib runs ‘Kothi Club’, and has facilities for anyone eager to pursue the sport seriously.

From Jamia Millia Islamia in 2014 under coach Sanjay Gill and the mentorship of Prof Nafis Ahmad, with the Gaya District Cricket Association coming in between, three seasons of inter-university cricket, and stints with corporate teams like Collage, Uflex, and FCI in Delhi-NCR, Sohaib had cobbled together a cricketing education.

In 2021, after playing for Bihar didn’t work for him, he took a leap of faith on seeing a vacancy and moved to the UAE, where he represented Ajman Cricket Council in Emirates Cricket Board tournaments — the D50, D20, and D10 formats. Four years of playing at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and ICC Academy followed. A Development Tournament call-up from Dubai Capitals in September 2025 brought recognition, even if the ILT20 auction didn't.

“In the UAE, I was a financial consultant and salesperson. I worked during the day. The infrastructure there is such that we play cricket at night and work during the day, and that's what I did. For the last four to five months, I've been playing proper cricket there. I currently work at a financial consulting company named Prospero, a stock marketing company. I graduated from Jamia in Sociology.

But destiny, as Sohaib discovered, works in mysterious ways. His national call-up came on October 24, 2025, for the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Tri-Series, before being named in the squad for the T20 World Cup.

The setup that had given Junaid Siddique the backing to take five wickets for UAE — restricting Canada to 150/7- had also believed in Sohaib when the asking rate climbed past 12. “This situation used to come in tennis cricket, when we used to play there in Bihar. Even when I was playing in North Zone for Jamia, there was a similar situation at that time, and I faced it too during domestic cricket games in the UAE.”

"I believed that we can do it, considering we have done it before, and we can do it again. Out of 10, you can do it 3-4 times, when you believe in yourself," Sohaib said. On a February evening in Delhi, with pressure mounting and the dream of a win slipping away, that belief in Sohaib - borrowed from Dhoni's mantra, forged in Bihar's dusty tennis-ball battles, and hardened in Dubai’s cricketing circuit - was enough to get a memorable win for the UAE and go from little known to being in the spotlight of victory.

Source: IANS