DUBAI After having already sealed a berth in the Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh, UAE skipper Khurram Khan says his team is gearing up to achieve another milestone at the ICC 2015 World Cup qualifiers in New Zealand from January 13 to February 1.
“The team looks in great shape. The confidence is sky high and we are completely focused on achieving it,” Khan told XPRESS.
The UAE are in Group A along with Nepal, Scotland, Hong Kong and Canada while Group B consists of the Netherlands, Uganda, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and Namibia.
The UAE will open their campaign on January 13 against Nepal who have troubled them in recent tournaments. They will then take on Canada on January 15 before meeting Scotland after a three-day break. Their final group match will be against Hong Kong on January 23.
“Nepal have been doing very well. But conditions in New Zealand are new to everyone. So that will be a big challenge. We are focussing on that aspect and we would love to make a positive start by winning the first match. We are going to take it match by match and then plan accordingly,” he said.
The top three sides from each group will progress to the Super Six stage and the top two sides from the Super Six will not only reach the final but will also qualify for the World Cup.
testing times
The team has been training at the ICC Cricket Academy four times a week under UAE coach Aaqib Javed, who is well aware of the seaming conditions.
“He has been doing a great job. The boys have been in good shape. To get used to the seaming conditions, we are training on different wickets, including the Australian wicket at the ICC Academy. We are testing our pace bowlers who are doing a fine job.”
The UAE will play two warm-up matches before the tournament against Uganda and the Netherlands.
“We have two practice matches which should help us prepare well and understand the conditions. We know what to expect there and the boys understand their responsibilities,” said Khan.
Chirag Suri and Salman Faris will make their debuts. “Chirag is a young talent we have in the team. He is doing well at the moment. He has just played the under-19 tournaments and looks to be in good form. Even Salman Faris has great potential and they are assets to the team,” Khan added.
