Only two students from New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia have gone on to play international cricket, while several hockey players from this central university have represented India and captained the national team. Swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag played for India with distinction, while Mohammad Sohaib Khan has given a good account of himself for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ongoing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Sohaib’s journey has been a rollercoaster. His achievements in his fledgling career carry weight when one considers that he played with a leather ball for the first time at 16, in 2014. At the time, he was in Class XI at Jamia Millia Islamia School. Until then, he had been playing with a tennis ball.
In all, Sohaib spent five years in Jamia before returning to his home state, Bihar, after graduating with a sociology honours degree in 2018 to try his luck in the game. He attended several state camps, including those for the Ranji Trophy, but only disappointment came his way.
Then life took a turn for the better. One of his friends was going to the UAE for a job, and he asked Sohaib if he was interested in coming along. Sohaib was.
Sohaib joined an investment company as a portfolio adviser and also worked in the tourism sector in the UAE. “He would work during the day and practise and play matches in the evening or at night. One of the coaches in the UAE known to us, Naushad Alam from Bihar, introduced him to the right people in the cricketing circles, and that opened new avenues for Sohaib,” Altamash Khan, elder brother of Sohaib and an ex-student of Jamia, told Patriot.
“Naushad was his personal coach-cum-guide in the UAE, while in Bihar, coach Zeeshan Wasi had polished his game,” he said, referring to the two main people who have shaped Sohaib’s career.
Making an impact
An aggressive batsman, Sohaib has made an instant impact in the ongoing T20 World Cup. After knocks of 38 not out against Nepal and a nought against first-timers Italy in the warm-up matches, Sohaib’s scores in the UAE’s first three matches in the tournament proper read: seven vs New Zealand, a 29-ball 51 against Canada, and a 48-ball 68 against Afghanistan.
Incidentally, Sohaib’s both half-centuries came at a ground that he is familiar with, the Arun Jaitley Stadium, which was known as Feroz Shah Kotla when he was at Jamia, 12 km from the venue.
The UAE’s last group match against the 2024 World Cup runners-up, South Africa, is scheduled for February 18.
Also Read: From Delhi dreams to USA colours
Tryst with ball
Wasi, who has a host of coaching certificates under his belt, didn’t like the way Sohaib got out when the UAE required just one run to win against Canada. “Usually, I don’t praise my students sky-high even when they do well. So I don’t spare Sohaib either when he makes mistakes like that. He should have stayed at the crease when victory was so near against Canada and should have returned unbeaten,” Wasi told Patriot.
Otherwise, the Patna-based Wasi, who is incidentally also a Jamia alumnus, likes Sohaib for his overall game and his down-to-earth demeanour. “When he connects with the ball, I like all his shots. But his slog-sweep is my favourite shot,” he says.
Wasi, as a physical education teacher at Jamia School, is an eyewitness to the day Sohaib played with a leather ball for the first time. “I can’t forget that day. It was at a simulation session at the school. Sohaib struggled with the leather ball and couldn’t hit it far. After the session, he came to me and said something so respectfully that it touched my heart, and it endeared him to me forever,” he disclosed.
When Sohaib went to the UAE, Wasi kept his motivational lessons going for his most famous student. “He already had belief in himself. And coach Naushad Alam helped him further over there,” he said.
Learnings in Delhi
After graduating from Jamia School, Sohaib enrolled at the university on the same campus in South Delhi. He was admitted to the Bachelor of Sociology (Honours) course and quickly made it to the Jamia cricket team.
Having appeared in inter-varsity tournaments for Jamia, he returned to Bihar after the Supreme Court granted the state full BCCI membership, enabling it to compete in national tournaments.
However, Sohaib could not break into Bihar’s Ranji Trophy team. He tried until 2021, when he migrated to the UAE. The move opened a host of opportunities for him. After performing well in the Emirates’ domestic tournaments, he was selected for the UAE team for the Asia Cup Rising Stars competition in November 2025, which featured eight teams.
In one of the matches in which India’s sensational teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, also of Bihar, hammered a 42-ball 144, comprising 15 sixes and 11 fours, Sohaib was the top scorer for the UAE with 63 off 41 balls (6x6s, 3x4s). But Sohaib’s team was restricted to 149/7 in 20 overs while chasing India’s mammoth 297 for four wickets. “Sohaib’s knock was an emotional moment for him as well as me,” says Wasi.
The turning point
Sohaib’s brother points out that performances in the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament were also taken into account for selection to the T20 World Cup camp. Sohaib was selected for the UAE camp, and in January, he was named in the national team for the World Cup. “We can say it was a major turning point in his career,” Altamash stresses.
Sohaib had, however, made his One-day International debut earlier, on October 28, 2025, in a match against the USA in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.
Until the end of the T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan, the Gaya, Bihar-born Sohaib had played four One-day Internationals and five T20 Internationals.
Celebrations in Jamia
Several people have helped in Sohaib’s cricketing journey, starting with Dr Adeel Ahmad, a highly qualified cricket coach with Jamia for several years. “When he joined Jamia school in class XI, he told me he wanted to play cricket; until then, he had been playing with the tennis ball. The most outstanding aspect of his batting, even in school, was that he could hit long sixes with excellent timing and power, as he had strong arms. He is otherwise a quiet person and goes about his tasks in a quiet manner,” Dr Adeel, a former cricketer, told Patriot.
Apart from Dr Adeel, other coaches — Wasi, Naushad, Dr Mohammed Moonis, Sanjay Saini and Sanjay Gill – have guided Sohaib from time to time.
Dr Moonis is particularly happy for Sohaib. “Watching Sohaib represent the UAE in the T20 World Cup fills my heart with immense pride. From his days at Jamia, he has always stood out not only for his aggressive and fearless batting, but also for his sincerity, discipline and unwavering dedication to the game,” he says.
“What has impressed me most has been Sohaib’s humility and the respect he gives — qualities that define his personality as much as his talent. Even during his college days, his hunger to improve and his commitment to excellence were starkly evident. Today, his performance on the world stage is a beautiful reward for his hard work and perseverance,” he adds.
Read More: Golf’s ‘72 The League’ auction marks game-changing moment for the sport
