Dubai: The UAE cricket team are high on hope as they leave for New Zealand on Tuesday for the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2015 World Cup qualifiers.
Speaking to Gulf News, skipper Khurram Khan said: “We have played against most of our opponents and hence we know their standards, so we have a good chance to make it to the 2015 World Cup.”
Two World Cup slots are up for grabs in the qualifiers.
Asked how tough his team could expect conditions in New Zealand to be, Khan replied: “The conditions in New Zealand are also new to the other teams and hence it would not be difficult. We are leaving a few days early to adapt to the conditions there. We are also playing in warm-up matches before the start of the tournament and that should help us.”
The UAE lost out on direct qualification for the 2015 World Cup when they finished one point shy of Afghanistan. The top two teams from the ICC World Cricket League held in the UAE went through to the showpiece.
“We are well-prepared for the challenge. We practised with the UAE Under-19 team as our coach Aaquib Javed was also busy with them. We have a very balanced team and we have included some of the youngsters like Chirag Suri, who did well in Under-19 cricket, and Salman Faris, who has been in top form,” said Khan, who is among three players — along with Amjad Ali and Amjad Javed — who played in the last edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.
Khan is determined to ensure that his team does not miss out on the chance to play in a World Cup again. “It will do a lot of good to UAE cricket if we can make it. The last time we played in a 50-over World Cup was way back in 1996. Lots of rules have been changed since then for the associate teams. And now, we’ve got a very good team, and I think this time we have got a very good chance. Over the last three or four months, we’ve been doing really well, so I think it’s going to reenergise UAE cricket if we continue the momentum and qualify,” added Khan, who played a key role in helping the UAE clinch a place in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh with some standout allround performances.
The UAE play a warm-up match against Uganda on January 10, followed by another warm-up match against The Netherlands the next day. They start their campaign by taking on Nepal in the first match on January 13. Replying to a query as to which teams he expected to throw the strongest challenge, Khan said: “All these teams are very good. The one thing that you can do is to play your own game, play it to perfection, play it with the maximum talent you have. And forget about who you’re playing against. Yes, the other sides have played a lot of matches against us and know what we’re capable of as we finished fourth at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, so I think everyone will be looking at us as well — that we have a very strong team.”
