Dubai: UAE captain Khurram Khan is dreaming of leading his side to next year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 in Bangladesh after narrowly missing out on a place in the 2015 50-over World Cup.
The 42-year-old batsman saw his team come agonisingly close to qualifying for cricket’s biggest stage only last month, when they were pipped to second place in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Championship by Afghanistan.
But the UAE have a chance for redemption when they host the qualifying tournament for Bangladesh 2014 from November 15-30, when 16 teams will battle it out for six places in the main event scheduled for March.
“It would be a dream come true to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh next year. All the hard work that we have put in would have paid off and, with people’s perception of cricket in the UAE forever changing, it would really be the icing on the cake,” Khan said.
The UAE have been drawn in Group A for the qualifiers — which will be played at six venues in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah — alongside defending champions Ireland, Namibia, Canada, Uganda, USA, Italy and Hong Kong. Group B is made up of Afghanistan, Bermuda, Denmark, Netherlands, Nepal, Kenya, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Scotland.
The hosts didn’t compete when Ireland won the last World Twenty qualifiers (WT20Q) here last March, but they have been busy preparing for this month’s competition. Aside from their third-place finish in the WCL, they were third in the Asian Cricket Council Twenty20 Cup in April and fourth in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.
“We’ve been playing non-stop since we finished our tour of Canada for the Pepsi ICC WCL Championship [in August]. We’ve already started regular sessions in the last four or five months to help us prepare for this tournament,” Khan said ahead of his team’s opener against Uganda at Abu Dhabi Oval 1 on Friday.
“We’ve played against all the teams in our group and they know our strengths and that means I think it will be a close contest. The shortest form of the game is probably the most unpredictable and that means you can’t write off any team, we simply have to play our best cricket.”
But Khan does not believe that playing at home will mean the UAE will be among the favourites to progress. “Home conditions may not be a big advantage for us as most of the teams, if not all of them, have played here before and know the conditions the UAE has to offer,” he said.
“Our players will need to be on top form and I think they will be the thing that will make the difference for us during the event. The likes of our key top order batsmen, Shaiman Anwar, Saqib Ali and Swapnil Patil, are all in great form. Combine that with the all-rounders Nasir Aziz, Mohammad Azam and Rohan Mustafa and we stand in good stead for the tournament.”
He added: “I think everyone in the UAE should be coming out to support us in the event. All the matches are free to attend and we are one of the few sides in the top eight that doesn’t play cricket on a full-time basis and yet we’re consistently performing against the top teams.”
