Cricket: Khurram Khan optimistic about UAE's future

This week, Khurram Khan, the former UAE cricket captain, spoke with Assistant Sports Editor Chitrabhanu Kadalayil. Khurramlooked back on his remarkable career three years after he retired from the game.

The Pakistan-born Khurram began by talking about his background and how he made his way from the central city of Multan to glitzy Dubai in the mid-1990s, dreaming of playing international cricket one day.

Cricket fans will recall how Khurram and then-UAE coach Aaqib Javed plotted their team’s qualification for the 2015 World Cup. A long-term employee of Emirates Airlines, he talked about his experience leading the team during those heady days. He also opened up about other highs, and some lows, that made an international career spanning one and a half decades a truly memorable one.

Khurram, 46, also gave his views about the state of the game in the UAE. He credited the Emirates Cricket Board for starting a contract system that helped turn amateur players professional in 2016. But he gave a frank assessment of some developments of which he is not a fan. Listen in.

Extra Time, produced by Kevin Jeffers, is the podcast from The National’s sport desk. Subscribe to and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, or listen on Audioboom, Pocket Cast or your favourite podcasting app.