Dubai: The UAE squad for the ICC 2015 World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand next month will be led by Mohammad Tauqir.
The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) selection committee under the chairmanship of Mohammad Redha Abdulla Abbas announced a strong all-round 15-member squad on Saturday.
Abbas said: “It is a team made up of eight batsmen, five medium pacers and two spinners and it is a squad which is a mixture of experience and youth.”
Khurram Khan, who played a pivotal role in UAE qualifying for the world cup through his all-round skills and had captained the team in the qualifiers has been appointed as vice captain.
Commenting on the appointment of Tauqir as captain, Abbas said: “ The UAE Ministry of Youth and Sports intents to develop cricket among Emiratis and Tauqir is an Emirati with huge experience as a player and since we have an Emirati with such huge experience we have appointed him as skipper. Moreover the ministry says that if the country is participating in a prestigious world event and if the team has a UAE national in the squad he should be leading the team. Khurram is our most valuable player and like Sachin Tendulkar who has played under Sourav Ganguly, he too will do the same and play the same role.”
Lauding Khan’s contribution, Abbas said: “Vice-Captain Khurram Khan has been performing wonderfully well and his experience will be of great value to the team. We also have a good fast bowler in Fahad Al Hashimi, who works with Dubai Police”.” Hashimi is the second UAE national in the team.
Tauqir, who is an employee of National Bank of Abu Dhabi is among the most experienced cricketers in UAE having represented the national team for over a decade and even captained the squad in international matches. Forty-three-year-old Tauqir is a right arm off spinner and has represented the UAE in 50 international matches, including five One Day Internationals. One of his finest knocks in One Day Internationals was in his debut match in the 2004 Asia Cup against India (at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium). He cracked a fighting 55 runs off 73 balls and took one wicket from his allotted 10-overs.
Commenting on the team, Abbas said: “The team is made up of two Emiratis, two Sri Lankans, nine Pakistanis and two Indians. Emphasis has been given on form of the players and if any are disappointed at not getting selected it has been purely due to the fact that they haven’t performed well in the last one year. I thank Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and head of Emirates Cricket Board for his support and his efforts to spread the game among the Emiratis.”
UAE team will start the World Cup tour with two warm-up games against Australia and Afghanistan on February 11 and 13 in Melbourne. In the World Cup, they will face Zimbabwe, Ireland, India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies from February 19 till March 15.
