Abu Dhabi: The UAE team returned to the capital in the early hours of Wednesday after winning hearts Down Under, but with a degree of uncertainty for future.
It took 19 years for the Khurram Khans, Mohammad Tauqirs, Shaiman Anwars and Amjed Javeds to perform at the game’s biggest stage but it looks like another long wait awaits them — thanks to International Cricket Council’s (ICC) plan.
The decision to trim the participating teams to 10 in the next edition has thrown up a fresh challenge for UAE and has left them with no option but to cast their nets wider and think out of the box.
Some harsh decisions have to be taken and sooner the better. Some of the old warhorses who have been the flagbearers for UAE cricket have to give way to the youth, quickly. More importantly, the Emirates Cricket Board has to make sure that a coach of Aaquib Javed’s stature and vision stays on board for as long as possible.
Javed, the mastermind behind UAE’s rise to fame, had ample time to think on his and UAE’s future on the flight back home from Melbourne and the good news coming in is that he will be staying with the team for now. “I have offers from a few places but when I chose to move to the UAE, it wasn’t the short-term I was thinking about,” said the former Pakistan pacer. “I’m a very stable person whatever I decide, I decide for the long-term. Let’s see; so far I’m not thinking of moving anywhere,” he said.
Though Javed acknowledged that a revamp was inevitable, given the fact that most players’ careers are over the hill, he warned against haste. “It should be done gradually because we are not India or Pakistan, where there is a lot of bench strength. We got a few youngsters but they need to be groomed. Since we have limited choices, we got to be very careful. Unless you don’t have replacement, you can’t get rid of your best players,” felt Javed, who emphasised on the need to make the domestic league much more competitive.
“There is no doubt that Shaiman, [Mohammad] Naved, Javed played exceptionally well in the World Cup but I think everybody should realise that if we want to compete with international teams, you have to have a professional set-up,” revealed Javed, adding that the need of the hour was to start ‘four to five’ Emirates competitions.
“Until we have a strong structure, strong competition, we won’t get really strong players to go for the international events.”
The voices for a central contract system for players have risen over the years with youngsters leaving the UAE for fresher pastures. This season, UAE lost most of their U-19 players but Javed feels the contract system won’t be of much help.
“It looks difficult from both sides. People are doing really important jobs, even if you offer them a full time contract, they won’t accept it. It takes a lot of time to become a professional team but we are heading towards it.”
Whatever maybe the odds, Javed’s only aim is to keep moving forward and his next agenda for the UAE is: “T20 World Cup qualification and a few more ODIs. I think the responsibility is to do well in four-day cricket and emerge as one of the best Associate cricket teams and we are not far behind. The next challenge is to become the No. 1 Associate team.”
Has ICC left anything on the palette for an Associate team like the UAE, comprising a bunch of dedicated expat part-timers who have lived their passion through their adopted nation, is the question that one should be asking.
