NEW DELHI: The digital scoreboard at the Arun Jaitley Stadium offered cold, hard facts: UAE 152/5, Canada 151. It highlighted Aryansh Sharma’s masterful, unbeaten 74 and a blistering 51 off 29 balls by Sohaib Khan. But cricket, in its purest form, often defies binary logic. On a crisp Friday night in February 2026, the numbers failed to capture the pulse of a story that began in the dustbowls of Bihar and culminated in World Cup glory.
While the record books will note a five-wicket victory for the UAE, the 25,000-strong crowd witnessed the evolution of a boy from Gaya into a man for the big stage. The chase of 151 had turned perilous. A hushed silence fell over the UAE dugout as the scoreboard read 66/4. Harshit Kaushik had just departed, and the comfortable pursuit was threatening to derail.
Aryansh Sharma stood like a lighthouse at one end, batting on 44, but he was running out of allies. The situation demanded not just skill, but a temperament forged in fire. Enter Sohaib Khan. The 27-year-old didn’t just absorb the pressure; he redirected it. After a poised start, he unleashed his true colors against Canada’s bowling attack.
The turning point arrived in the 17th over. Khan targeted Dilon Heyliger, smashing 17 runs to break the shackles. He followed it up by looting 13 runs off Jaskaran Singh, swinging the momentum decisively. By the time Sohaib fell—having struck four boundaries and four massive sixes—the scores were tied. His departure was merely a footnote; the victory was secured.
“Before me and Aryansh, I will give a lot of credit to our coach, Lalchand Rajput, and the entire management,” Sohaib told reporters post-match, his voice thick with emotion. “When I was going to bat, they were saying only one thing: ‘Just believe in yourself, this is the time, and you can do it.’”
Drawing inspiration from a legend of the game, Sohaib revealed his mindset during the crunch moments. “We required 12 runs per over. As MS Dhoni would say, when you are on the field in a pressure game, just back your technique and be calm. I was thinking the same.”
But the journey to this Friday night in Delhi was far longer than the 22 yards he conquered. Born in Bihar, Sohaib spent his formative years in the Gaya district, honing his reflexes with tennis-ball cricket long before he encountered professional infrastructure. “I started playing professional cricket very late, in 2014,” he admitted. “But that pressure situation? It used to come in tennis cricket often.”
His path wound through the capital city, where he completed his Bachelor’s in Sociology from Jamia Millia Islamia. Between 2014 and 2019, he was a regular on the university circuit, even featuring in North Zone tournaments. However, as is often the case in the grueling Indian domestic circuit, opportunities dried up. Then came the pandemic.
“Honestly speaking, this is beyond a game,” Sohaib reflected. “I moved to the UAE during COVID in November 2021 as I wasn’t getting opportunities here. I got married the same year.” Life in the Emirates was a grind. By day, he worked as a financial consultant and salesperson; by night, he chased his dream under floodlights. “In UAE, the infrastructure allows us to play at night and work in the morning. That helped a lot.”
The narrative came full circle as his family watched from the stands in Delhi. “My daughter and my wife were there, my parents were there in the stadium. I thought, this is the game where I can do my best. No matter how much I have struggled in the last 4-5 years, if this phase happens, it is fine. What else can I ask from God?”
As the UAE celebrates a historic win, the cricketing world acknowledges a unique truth: A financial consultant can become a World Cup match-winner, and a boy from Gaya can become the hero the UAE desperately needed.