Earlier this month, after reaching a typically rapid half-century, Khalid Shah marked the milestone by making the signal of a talking hand next to the face of his bat.
It has become a well-used gesture by players in recent times and the meaning is obvious: I’ll let my bat do the talking. Shah, who was raised in Sharjah and now works at the cricket stadium, has been waiting patiently for higher honours in cricket.
In the ILT20 development tournament at the ICC Academy, he hit 70 in 47 balls, then 50 in 31 balls in successive games. His bat wasn’t so much talking as shouting loudly.
It was not enough to earn him an ILT20 deal, but he has since been rewarded with his first call-up to the national team. The 27-year-old left-hander debuted in the UAE’s tri-series success against Nepal and Hong Kong in Kathmandu last week.