Vriitya Aravind

If one says, Vritya Aravind is the future of UAE cricket then it won’t be false. A young wicketkeeper-batsman, Aravind is one of the few players who already played international cricket, before playing the U-19 World Cup.

Born in India but raised in the United Arab Emirates. Aravind has a calm head on not so burly shoulders. He has a compact technique, both as a batter and stumper, and showed his prowess during the Junior World Cup of 2020. 

The keeper-batter’s 53 against New Zealand in the warm-ups helped UAE upset their more fancied opponents, which was followed by a scintillating 98 against Japan in the next warm-up game. He scored a total of 173 runs in the main tournament, however, it was his style of play that spoke volumes about the budding talent. 

The Chennai-born got his first break at the senior level, when he replaced Ghulam Shabber, during the T20 World Cup Qualifier in October 2019. A couple of months later, he was named in the ODI squad as well, for the Tri-Series against USA and Scotland.

Aravind made his ODI debut against the USA in the Tri-Series in December 2019, while he received his maiden T20I cap against Iran in February 2020. He has also shared the Pune Devils dressing room in the much-celebrated Abu Dhabi T10 League. 

Thus far, the UAE international doesn’t have numbers to justify his talent, but his technique and frame of mind indicate that Aravind is one for the future.

(As of September 2021)