Dubai: The UAE squad are relishing the prospect of being a part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 after arriving in Napier, New Zealand.
The players have started training alongside top teams like New Zealand and Pakistan and also played a practice match against a Central Districts team at Nelson Park in Napier.
Tall UAE pacer Amjad Javed picked up three wickets in the match and afterwards told Gulf News: “It feels nice to have picked up three wickets. I dismissed the opener and then came back for my second spell and took two wickets.
“More than the feeling of having bowled well in the match, what was amazing was seeing Pakistan doing their practice on the same ground — and followed by New Zealand too. That’s what gives you a boost and you start feeling that you are no longer a part-time cricketer now.
“The atmosphere gives you confidence when you are a World Cup team and the protocol we received on landing in New Zealand was something special.”
Young UAE opener Andri Berenger has happy memories of New Zealand, as it was there he played as a wicketkeeper-batsman for the Sri Lanka Under-19 team at the 2010 Youth World Cup.
So, for 23-year-old UAE-based Berenger the World Cup will be another landmark moment in his career.
“It is a wonderful feeling to be playing in the World Cup. There is a lot to learn here and I am looking forward towards it,” he said.
Television reporters have followed the UAE players everywhere, wanting them to speak on their feelings of playing in the World Cup. Some wanted to speak about their jobs, as the UAE team is made up of amateurs who bulldozed on to the biggest stage.
When skipper Mohammad Tauqir was approached by ICC television, he said: “Playing the World Cup means a lot for us because we are all amateur cricketers who work hard in our offices. So coming here to play in a World Cup is a special feeling.”
Khurram Khan, the vice-captain and star all-rounder who starred in the qualifiers, said: “I cherish a lot to be playing in a World Cup. While in Pakistan [his country of birth] I did not get to play at the senior level. I moved to UAE when I was 21 and I have lived there since and I am thankful to UAE for giving me this opportunity to play in a World Cup.”
Since the World Cup returns to Australia and New Zealand for the first time since 1992, Tauqir and Khurram were asked to recall that tournament.
Khurram said: “I was back home in Pakistan then and I used to wake up at 3am to watch the matches. It was a Ramadan period and I got to see Pakistan win the World Cup.”
Tauqir said his fondest memory was the two deliveries by Wasim Akram that tilted the final in Pakistan’s direction. “I will never forget those Akram deliveries that got England’s Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis bowled. Those deliveries were amazing — one came in and the other went out to hit the stumps,” he said.
