UAE coach Aaqib Javed would like to see some of the best national players showcase their talent in Pakistan’s Twenty20 Super League.
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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed a five-franchise team event to be held in the UAE in February next year with its chairman Shaharyar Khan saying in a statement that the UAE has been chosen to “attract the maximum number of foreign players”.
Pakistan Super League finally sort for UAE take off. #PSL #Pakistan #cricket #icc #dubai pic.twitter.com/QYdVlf2xQQ
— Fahad Qureshi (@TheFahadQureshi) June 14, 2015
While Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) chief David East has had no contact with the PCB so far, he is happy to “discuss any opportunities they may have”.
The UAE will be no strangers in hosting a high-profile T20 tournament, having conducted the first leg of the Indian Premier League last year which saw sell-out crowds in nearly all games in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
While UAE players were not involved, Javed hopes that the ECB can come to some kind of agreement with the PCB.
“With the tournament being held here I hope the Emirates Cricket Board can have some negotiation with their organisers and have one UAE national player in each team,” he told Sport360.
“We have a few talented T20 specialists like Shaiman Anwar, Mohammad Naveed, Swapnil Patil and Nasir Aziz. If the ECB rightly negotiate the deal and request one UAE player in each team then it will be very good. When you’re looking at development of players you need to have good competitive tournaments in place.
“If we can engage five or six players in that tournament then I think it would be a great experience for them to play against competitive cricketers and learn about dealing with situations of pressure which would be very beneficial.”
Can’t wait for #PSL to start in #uae. #cricket #pakistan #icc #dubai. Let’s go @TheRealPCB pic.twitter.com/0lmZekYqyp
— Fahad Qureshi (@TheFahadQureshi) June 14, 2015
The 42-year-old added: “For the UAE players to be involved is a learning curve. People will be watching you on TV, so there’s a psychological effect while the technical skills will also be enhanced.
“Overall that is a big task and these elements will help them raise their game and they will be ready to go for the bigger challenges.”
With the UAE hosting Pakistan’s matches since 2009, the 1992 World Cup winner believes it makes sense to stage the tournament here.
“If you look at the overall cricket, I think UAE is most suitable because there are a lot of expats from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, who all love the game.”
