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He once watched heroes in Sharjah — then became Pakistan's hero at same venue
The legendary Pakistani spinner, who was in the UAE recently to train youngsters, also said the ICC will always be indebted to Sharjah for promoting cricket
- PUBLISHED: Tue 3 Feb 2026, 9:29 PM UPDATED: Wed 4 Feb 2026, 10:07 AM
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With his trademark skull cap and thick beard, Saqlain Mushtaq now cuts the figure of a stern disciplinarian. But the legendary Pakistani off-spinner breaks into a big smile when asked about the joy of teaching young kids how to grip the ball and make it turn and drift.
Looking at him now, it’s hard to imagine that this is the same Saqlain who, with a clean-shaven face in his playing days, tormented batters and scripted some of Pakistan’s greatest triumphs in the 1990s.
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Recently, Saqlain was at the MS YTCA Cricket Academy in Sharjah to coach the UAE’s talented youngsters.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, the 49-year-old spoke about the importance of cricket’s longer formats, his memories of playing at the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and why Joe Root can never eclipse Sachin Tendulkar — even if the England batter surpasses the Indian icon’s Test batting record.
Q. Being a legend of the sport and one of the greatest spinners of all time, how does it feel now when you get the chance to meet youngsters and share your experience and knowledge with them, even in associate countries like the UAE?
I believe it’s criminal not to share your knowledge, so I always try to spend time with youngsters from all countries — not just big cricketing nations like Pakistan and England, but also associate nations like the UAE — and pass on my knowledge. I spend a lot of time with kids, whether on the streets, in far-flung villages or in big cities.
The game has given me a lot. I have earned a lot of respect from fans and my fellow cricketers, so now I treat every youngster with the same respect and try to guide them with my knowledge and experience. Honestly, the joy you get from seeing these young kids smile when they learn something new is difficult to put into words. So it’s always a great honour for me to be with talented youngsters and I am very happy to be here in Sharjah.
Q. You have come for a training camp in Sharjah, which has hosted some of the most iconic matches in world cricket. What kind of memories does the Sharjah Cricket Stadium bring back for you? As one of Pakistan’s star players in the 1990s, you played many unforgettable matches here, including great battles against India. Your record in Sharjah was outstanding — 61 wickets from 36 ODIs at just 21.85…
Oh my God, I cannot describe the happiness I feel every time I visit the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. All the matches I played here are etched in my memory. I still replay them in my mind. I still imagine myself walking onto the field and playing in front of a packed stadium in Sharjah.
In fact, when I was a child in the 1980s, I used to think Sharjah was the only place that staged international cricket because we were so used to watching matches from here on television. It was such a big part of our childhood. Then to go on and play for Pakistan and help the team win matches in Sharjah was an incredible feeling.
This stadium deserves enormous praise. It hosted the highest number of One-Day Internationals, a record recognised by the Guinness World Records. I think the ICC will always be indebted to Sharjah for promoting cricket with such passion. Wherever you go in the cricketing world, people know the contribution Sharjah has made to the sport. Personally, I have not just one or two memories here, but hundreds of them. They are all beautiful memories.
Q. Sharjah started the cricket culture in this country. Now the UAE are now all set to make their third appearance at the T20 World Cup. For an associate nation, they have produced some fine players. The ILT20, the UAE’s IPL-style league that draws big names from world cricket, has also helped local players develop their game further. They are getting the opportunity to play with and against these stars and share the dressing room with them…
I think this is a huge initiative from the Emirates Cricket Board and they deserve all the praise for it. This is a wonderful platform for UAE cricket and UAE cricketers. If I am not wrong, the UAE is the only associate country to have a league of this scale.
It’s brilliant for these youngsters to share the dressing room with legends of the game and learn from them. They have grown up watching their heroes and now they are playing alongside them. They can learn not only cricketing skills but also match preparation, work ethic and how these big players remain calm during crunch moments to help their team. So there are many aspects of the game these kids can learn from the stars.
Q. Today’s youngsters have grown up in the T20 era. Naturally, many of them idolise players like Abhishek Sharma, the flamboyant Indian batter who attacks from the word go, even dancing down the wicket against fast bowlers in the first over of a match to hit sixes. While it’s breathtaking to watch, don’t you think youngsters also need to study classical players like Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar? They dominated bowlers as well, often without taking excessive risks, but they produced masterpieces with such perfect stroke-play
Definitely, I would advise youngsters to watch videos of the great batsmen from my time. They must also play longer formats of the game, not just T20s and T10s. If you learn to play the longer formats, you will understand how to play the shorter formats. But it does not work the other way around.
If you start playing only shorter formats, you will struggle to develop technique and temperament for longer formats. That’s why they must play 50-over and 40-over matches and watch a lot of old matches, especially from the 1990s. The standard of cricket was very high during our time.
Lara and Sachin were gifted, but they also worked extremely hard on their game. That is very important for kids to learn — the need for hard work and passion for the sport.
Q. Joe Root’s passion for run-scoring is remarkable. He is only 35 and needs fewer than 2,000 runs to break Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time Test record. Do you think the England batter can rewrite the record books?
Well, I don’t know if Root can catch Sachin in Test cricket. But Sachin is Sachin. What he achieved in that era and the way he played against those great bowlers with such perfection — I don’t think anyone will ever be able to replicate that.
You know many climbers have scaled Mount Everest, but people always remember the first ones — Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Similarly, I don’t think anyone can come close to the peaks Sachin scaled as a batsman. Yes, Root may become the highest Test run-scorer of all time, but as I said, Sachin will remain Sachin.
Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.