Bukhatir’s autobiography ‘Winning Run’ launched amid fanfare in Dubai

Winning Run, the autobiography of Abdul Rahman Bukhatir -- an Emirati entrepreneur and cricket administrator -- was launched at a gala event in Dubai on Saturday.

The book is co-authored by his daughter Safa Bukahtir. Many renowned cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and Tauseef Ahmed sent congratulatory video messages to Bukhatir on the launch of the book.

The book is replete with inspirational stories, which tell the tales of his storied career as an entrepreneur, cricket promoter and a family man. His courtship with cricket began in Karachi where he went to pursue his studies as a nine-year old.

Bukhatir fell in love with the game so much that he decided to bring the game of lush green lands into the desert of the Middle East. Not only did he bring it, but also made the desert an oasis of cricket.

It was a bold decision and perhaps any ordinary person would not have dared see this dream. Bukhatir, a man of steely determination and resolute, knew that one day the whole world would live his dream.

Upon his arrival from Karachi, Bukhatir sowed a sapling of cricket by establishing club cricket in the country. The sapling grew into a huge tree, putting Sharjah on the map of the cricket world.

He founded Sharjah Cricket Club and established Bukhatir League, which has grown by leaps and bounds and remains the oldest and the most prestigious domestic league of the country till date.

He not only brought cricket to the UAE, but also gave the budding players a turf to hone their skills and nurture their talent. He founded the famous Sharjah Cricket Club in 1980.

He began the Cricketer’s Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) to raise funds for the retired cricketers in the 1980s. Sharjah Cricket stadium hosted its first ODI match on April 6, 1982.

After that, there was no looking back. Sharjah Cricket Stadium witnessed some of the most thrilling international matches, which went down in the folklore of the game.

Be it the last-ball six by Miandad or Sachin’s successive centuries against Australia at the Sharjah Cup in 1998, they added feathers to the growing stature of the Sharjah Cricket stadium and Bukhatir both.

A very humble testimony to Bukhatir’s decorated career as a cricket promoter is that today Sharjah Cricket Stadium holds the record for hosting the most number of international matches – 300 all put together. Mazhar Khan, general manager of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, also shared some anecdotes on how the iconic stadium has achieved the milestone with vision of Bukhatir.

“I have been with Bukhatir since the late 70s’ and have seen many ups and downs. It has been a great learning curve to work with a legend like him. He always celebrated the success and learned from the failures. He has been my mentor and my inspiration,” said Mazhar.