'Amazing' Aayan Afzal Khan stars for UAE in convincing win against Nepal

Having already featured in a T20 World Cup, it is inaccurate to say Aayan Afzal Khan was playing in front of the biggest crowd of his life so far.

What is certain, though, is the fact he will never have had such numbers singing him happy birthday before.

The Sharjah cricket prodigy became the UAE’s youngest one-day international cricketer in the first match of the series against Nepal in Kathmandu on Monday.

It was actually a day before his 17th birthday, but the typically impressive home crowd at Tribhuvan University were more than happy to help him celebrate prematurely.

And what a day he had to savour. An ODI debut, just over a month after he became the youngest player to play in a T20 World Cup.

A wicket with his first ball. A wicket with his third. Final figures of 4-14 from 10 overs, which included four maidens. And all contributing to an uplifting 84-run win for the UAE.

“They knew it was my birthday tomorrow, so they all started singing for me,” Aayan said. “I made my T20 debut recently, so I was not nervous even though it was my [one-day] debut. I just wanted to perform well.

“It is great to be in Nepal playing in front of all these fans. It was similar to Australia. It felt good.”

This was UAE’s first outing since their fitful display in the preliminary round of the T20 World Cup in Geelong last month.

It had the feel of the start of a new era. CP Rizwan took over the ODI captaincy from Ahmed Raza, just as he had in the 20-over format ahead of the World Cup. Alongside Aayan, new fast bowler Hazrat Bilal was given a debut, too.

There was one significant nod to the past, though. Rohan Mustafa was picked, despite being overlooked for unexplained reasons for the main event in Australia.

Nothing will erase the hurt