UAE coach Aaqib Javed insists his new-look squad is capable of causing an upset in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 tournament in Dubai.
The national selectors have named a 14-man party for the one-day competition next Friday at The Sevens Stadium with nine players retained from their recent Asia Cup campaign in Bangladesh.
Batsmen Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Qasim, Rameez Shazad and bowlers Mohammad Ayaz and Imran Haider are the five new faces. They replace Usman Mushtaq, Zaheer Maqsood, Saqlain Haider, Farhad Tariq and Farhan Ahmed, who travelled to Dhaka.
While captain Amjad Javed, Shaiman Anwar, Rohan Mustafa and Muhammad Naveed have been included, the competition – their first since the Asia Cup, allows Aaqib to examine his new players with an eye on the future.
“All the five new guys in this squad are just four to six months away from being eligible to play for the UAE in an official game,” said the 1992 World Cup winner, referring that players must complete four years of residency before playing an international match.
“They are all great talent. Shabbir has played a few first-class games in Pakistan and is proving to be one of the most consistent performers in the domestic circuit.
“Shazad is one of the most talented batsmen we have. He’s aggressive and can play some great shots while Qasim is a great fielder.”
The 43-year-old was equally impressed with Ayaz and particularly Haider, who took two wickets in the 79-run loss to England XI in a T20 friendly in November.
“Imran is very talented and I rate him very highly. He took five wickets in a practice game against Zimbabwe last month and did extremely well. Ayaz is definitely one to look out for and I think he’s one of the best bowlers we have in the UAE after Mohammad Naveed.”
The UAE go into the tournament on the back of an impressive showing in Bangladesh. It’s for that reason why Aaqib remains optimistic when his team lines up against English T20 champions Lancashire in the semi-final, in a tournament that features the MCC represented by Ian Bell and Kumar Sangakkara and defending champions Yorkshire.
“I think we have a great chance of going out there and putting on a good show,” he said. “We definitely have the capability of winning the competition and we shouldn’t be afraid.”
