UAE confident of World t20 qualification

DUBAI UAE skipper Mohamed Tauqir is upbeat about his team’s chances of qualifying for the World Twenty20 tournament to be held next year as they take on hosts Scotland in the opener of the ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers on July 9.

A total of 14 teams will compete for the top six spots to join the 10 full members for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in India from March 11 to April 3, 2016.

“The team is looking forward to the first match. We are confident we can finish on a high,” Tauqir told XPRESS.

UAE are drawn in a tough group B along with Afghanistan, Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Kenya and Oman. Group A has Ireland, Nepal, Hong Kong, PNG, Namibia, USA and Jersey.

Good balance

Despite their experienced campaigner Khurram Khan announcing his retirement recently, Tauqir still felt the team had a good balance of experience and youth. “It’s a tough group but we will take it match by match. Our immediate target is to win our first match against Scotland. T20 is a tricky format and does not allow a team to make too many mistakes.

“But we are well prepared and have a good mix of players. On a given day we can beat any team. We have good batting depth with players like Shaiman (Anwar), Swapnil (Patil) and (Abdul) Shakoor who can destroy any bowling attack, while our bowling department is also well equipped with Manjula Guruge, Mohammad Naveed being the frontline bowlers,” Tauqir added.

The UAE team has been to the UK earlier last month for the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the World Cricket League matches, which Tauqir felt has helped the team to acclimatise to the conditions. “Unfortunately one of our warm-up matches was washed out due to rain, but we had a great match against Nepal. We have been here for quite some time and our players have got used to the conditions. The weather is great and we hope to qualify for the big event next year.”

Praising the support staff for their immense contribution to keep the team fit, he said: “Aaqib Javed (coach) and Muddassar Naser (batting coach) have done a great job with the other staff members ensuring the team stayed fit with no injuries.”