The United Arab Emirates’ Cricket World Cup warm-up game with Australia in Melbourne is more than just that for vice-captain Khurram Khan.
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United Arab Emirates vice-captain Khurram Khan said walking onto the MCG surface for the first time will be a “huge moment” for him.
Khan, 43, and his team-mates will take on Australia in a Cricket World Cup warm-up match on Wednesday, as the minnows continue to build for their second appearance at the ICC’s showpiece tournament.
The Emirates airline employee Khan said while he made several trips to the Victorian capital and spotted the MCG from the outside, gracing its turf will be a new experience.
“It’s a huge moment for me,” Khan said in Melbourne on Tuesday.
“For my work commitments, I used to come to Melbourne quite a lot of the time.
“I used to stay across the road here, I’ve seen the MCG many times, but I’ve never walked into the stadium because I’ve always wanted to play here.”
UAE bowling coach Aaqib Javed, younger than Khan at age 42, brings some valuable World Cup-winning experience to the squad.
Javed snared 11 wickets in Pakistan’s triumph in Australia in 1992, including figures of 2-27 off 10 overs in the final against England.
He said the UAE squad had ticked all the boxes necessary in their preparation.
“It’s about our process,” Javed said. “Actually, with the World Cup prep we started about nine months [ago], I think we have achieved all our goals so far.
“We were in Australia for our prep tour, in Perth and Darwin. We played two games with the Western Australia, two with South Australia, one game each with PNG and Northern Territory – we won two of them.
“We have been doing really well at associate level, but this is the next stage. We know there is a gap, but I think we can push half of the national sides really hard.”
ON THIS DAY a bright eyed 16-year-old named Aaqib Javed made his Test debut for @TheRealPCB… the rest is history! pic.twitter.com/ku6lPSWeDp
— Sport360° (@Sport_360) February 10, 2015
Javed said two wins over stronger nations was the UAE’s target in Australia and New Zealand.
“Our realistic goal is to strike twice,” he added. “When we said striking twice, doesn’t mean the lowest ranked teams like Zimbabwe and Ireland.
“It’s about going into the game with the approach to push hard, because there are phases in the game when even the strongest teams give you the chance to sneak in and exploit the soft part of the game. We are here to play some hard cricket.”
