Afghanistan vs UAE T20 World Cup 2026: Sohaib Khan from Gaya in Bihar smashed his second successive fifty in the tournament for the United Arab Emirates.
Published: February 16, 2026 12:47 PM IST
India.com at T20 World Cup 2026: This edition of T20 World Cup 2026 has produced a new Indian star in Ishan Kishan, who has lit up the tournament for the defending champions with back-to-back fifties including 77 off 40 balls against Pakistan on Sunday night. But Kishan is not the only ‘Bihari’ cricketer creating waves in the World Cup – we are talking about star batter from United Arab Emirates, Sohaib Khan.
The UAE batter smashed his second successive fifty in the T20 World Cup 2026, the second one coming against Rashid Khan’s Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Coming it at the fall of two early wickets, Sohaib smashed 68 in 48 balls with 4 sixes and 4 fours and when he finally departed in the 19th over, the UAE score was on 152 for 7.
Till last year, Sohaib wasn’t even an international cricketer till last year but last week he was winning the ‘Player of the Match’ award at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The batter originally hails from Kothi, a small village in the Gaya district of Bihar in India and only decided to move to UAE amid the COVID-19 pandemic a few years back.
“I moved to UAE during the COVID pandemic. I was not getting many opportunities here (India). I was married in 2021 and my daughter and my wife were there as well as my parents. I thought this is the game – what I can do my best. I have struggled a lot from the past 4-5 years, now if I get this phase then it’s okay – what else I can ask from the God,” Sohaib Khan said in a press conference in New Delhi.
Sohaib is 27 years of age and only played in a handful of T20I matches before making his World Cup debut this month. He is no stranger to the Arun Jaitley Stadium as he completed his Graduation in Sociology just a few kilometres from the venue at the Jamia Milia Islamia in New Delhi.
In fact, Sohaib is only second cricketer from Jamia to play in a T20 World Cup after legendary Indian opener Virender Sehwag. “I played around three to four years from 2014 to 19 and played two consecutive North Zone from Jamia – 2017 and 2018,” Sohaib revealed.
Sohaib Khan works at financial consultant in UAE
Sohaib has only come out to bat for UAE when they have been in major trouble in the T20 World Cup. Against Canada on Friday, his side were reeling at 66 for 4 and needed another 85 to win in 7.3 overs and 56 to win in the last four. His maiden fifty lifted UAE to just their second win in T20 World Cup.
On Monday morning, Sohaib came out to bat with UAE in even more trouble at 13 for 2 with their skipper Muhammad Waseem dismissed in the second over. He got off the mark with massive six down the ground off Mujeeb ur Rahman and then survived a leg-before call thanks to a timely DRS.
Sohaib revealed that he works as a financial consultant in UAE. “I was a financial consultant, a salesperson, I worked during the day. And the infrastructure there is such that we play cricket at night and work during the day. So that’s what I did. For the last four to five months, I’ve been playing proper cricket there,” the UAE batter revealed.
“I left in November 2021. I am from a financial consultant company called Prospero. It’s a stock market company. I have graduated from Jamia in sociology,” he added.
The dashing batter says he took up cricket very late in his career at the age of around 15 years. “I’m born in Bihar. And I’ve spent a lot of time in the Bihar district. And I started professional cricket very late in 2014. But before that, this situation kept coming up in tennis cricket, when we played with tennis ball. Even I was playing in North Zone from Jamia,” he said.
Sohaib Khan reveals MS Dhoni inspiration
The UAE batter also revealed that he took inspiration from another star cricketer, originally from Bihar – legendary India and Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni.
“The strategy was quite simple. We were requiring only 12 runs per over. So as MS Dhoni said that when you are on the pitch and if it requires more pressure in the game, just back yourself, be calm. That’s what was thinking,” Sohaib said.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: india.com
