WATCH: ICC chairman Jay Shah meets Dubai crown prince alongside MI stars

Jai Shah meet Dubai Crown Prince: International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Jai Shah met His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai during the Dubai-India Business Forum held in Mumbai. This high-profile meeting marked a significant moment in strengthening cricketing ties between India and the UAE.

Jai Shah meets Dubai Crown Prince

In a special gesture, Jai Shah introduced Indian cricket stars Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav to the Dubai Crown Prince. The players took time out from their Indian Premier League (IPL) duties with Mumbai Indians to attend the meeting. Expressing his thoughts, Jay Shah wrote in a social media post,

Delighted to help connect cricket with visionary leadership in Mumbai where it was a true honour to meet His Highness @HamdanMohammed with @ImRo45, @hardikpandya7, and @surya_14kumar. These moments typify the uniting influence of cricket worldwide. pic.twitter.com/znTkXnJ22O

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) April 9, 2025

“Delighted to help connect cricket with visionary leadership in Mumbai, where it was a true honour to meet His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum along with cricket legends Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav. At ICC we remain steadfast in our commitment to elevating cricket to a global stage and building partnerships that resonate with diverse audiences.  

Dubai Prince meets Team India stars, Rohit Sharma gives a special gift

Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, Team India won the 2025 Champions Trophy title. The Indian team won the Champions Trophy for the third time after a long wait of 12 years. Although the event was officially hosted by Pakistan. But the Indian team played all its matches including the final in Dubai. Team India refused to go to Pakistan due to security reasons, after which all the matches of India were held at the Dubai International Stadium.

Who is Faza, whom Rohit and Hardik met?

But who is this 'Faza'? Let us tell you. This person is Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is famous all over the world as 'Faza'. Sheikh Hamdan is actually the Crown Prince of Dubai and is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates as well as the defense minister.

He is currently on an official visit to India, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday 8 April.

Apart from Prime Minister Modi, Sheikh Hamdan also went to Mumbai on this tour and here he also met Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.

ICC instrumental in building ties beyond borders

Moments like these remind us of our shared passion and the unifying impact of cricket across the world. The interaction not only symbolised diplomatic camaraderie but also reaffirmed ICC’s global mission of building ties beyond borders. Meanwhile Mumbai Indians continue to struggle in the 2025 IPL season. Their previous match resulted in a 12-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium.

Why is this meeting special?

Now if you are wondering why these 3 legendary players of Mumbai Indians and Team India suddenly reached to meet the Crown Prince of Dubai in the middle of IPL? The reason for this is not only the diplomatic relations between India and UAE, but also the cricket relations between the two countries.

Summary

In the last few years, Team India has played many matches in UAE, especially Dubai. Recently, the Champions Trophy was also won by Team India in Dubai. Also, during the Corona virus infection, 2 seasons of IPL were also played in UAE. Apart from these, the headquarters of ICC is also in Dubai, due to which Chairman Jay Shah also became a part of it.

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