UAE cricket looks to future after curious case of Usman Khan

The UAE will take their first steps in the post-Usman Khan era when they begin the ACC Premier Cup in Muscat on Friday.

Which is such an odd statement. Usman never played a game for the national team. He was over a year away from even being available for consideration at all.

And yet there was uproar in UAE cricket when he decided against completing his eligibility criteria and throwing in his lot with Pakistan instead.

Now he has been banned from playing in any UAE-sanctioned competitions for the next five years by the Emirates Cricket Board.

“After a detailed investigation, Usman was found to have misrepresented to ECB about his decision to play for the UAE team,” they wrote in a statement.

“[He] has used the opportunities and development provided by the ECB to him to seek out other prospects and it was evident he was no longer wanting to play for ECB nor complete the eligibility criteria which he was under an obligation to do.”

Usman heard of his punishment in absentia. He has yet to return to Dubai since the end of the Pakistan Super League, in which his extraordinary performances for Multan Sultans, the eventual runners-up, saw him named batter of the tournament.

He was enlisted in a training camp with 25 of the best players in Pakistan run by the army in Abbottabad, and is likely to debut in their T20 series against New Zealand later this month. While he was over there, he informed the ECB of his intention to discontinue his attempts to qualify for the UAE on residency grounds.

Usman Khan barred from participation in ECB events for five years.
More details: https://t.co/gwrJb0D9Fc

Even if he had not yet played for the national team, it goes without saying they are losing a player of great substance. And one who did