UAE captain Tauqir targets positive results at WC

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Back in action: Mohammed Tauqir.

    Newly-reinstalled captain Mohammed Tauqir is geared up for the upcoming World Cup, with a historic haul in his sights as the nation are “targeting to win two games”.

    – #360view: New UAE captain Tauqir needs support
    – Emirati Mohammed Tauqir to captain UAE at Cricket World Cup

    Emirati Tauqir, 43, will lead the side in Australia and New Zealand next month after it was announced on Saturday that Khurram Khan had dropped down to vice-captain.

    The UAE are making just their second appearance in the 50-over game’s elite competition, a solitary victory against the Netherlands being gained in the 1996 event.

    Veteran off-spinner Tauqir – who has four wickets at an average of 38 in five ODI appearances – will see the current squad pitted against the likes of South Africa, reigning champions India, Pakistan and 2012 World T20 winners West Indies in Pool B. The section also features Zimbabwe and Ireland, with that pair the Emirati’s focus.

    “Looking at the group of seven teams, the Test nations are the toughest ones,” Tauqir said at a coaching session at Victoria International School of Sharjah yesterday.

    “We have been targeting to win two games. 

    "Cricket is a very funny game, anything can happen. The kind of practice we are going through and the way the team is shaping up with Aaqib Javed’s coaching, it is not going to be impossible to win one or two games.”

    There is a special focus on the meetings with India and Pakistan, with many of the UAE players either expatriates from those countries or boasting strong family ties. 

    “It was my dream to be playing against them at a World Cup,” said Tauqir, who is one of two Emiratis named in the 15-man squad.

    “It is a dream come true for me.

    “When we played India in the Asian Cup [referencing the 2004 edition, when he scored 55 runs off 73 balls against them] they still had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh.

    “You cannot get better than that. India’s team today is amazing, we  respect all the cricketers in the Test-playing nations.

    “We want to put on a decent performance. We have worked hard and have been training very hard.”

    Tauqir has represented the UAE in five ODI matches during a decade- long affiliation. He did, however, take two years out prior to returning last July.

    Tauqir insisted he remains in good nick despite this sojourn. He said: “Because of work commitments I did not play much  international cricket but I was playing domestic cricket, and doing my own training. My routine, if not with the team, is to go running two or three times a week.

    “I was trying to keep myself fit. I am with the team since July.

    “I have never seen my weight below 80kg and I am that today. I am feeling the fittest right now.”

    The UAE have enjoyed a positive build-up to the World Cup. Great experience was gained about the conditions during a summer tour Down Under, with the side then going on to narrowly lose 3-2 against Pakistan A, be beaten by 78 runs in a one-off meeting with New Zealand A and defeat Afghanistan 3-1 on home soil.

    “We are very confident as a team,” Tauqir said. “We have done well, and had a good Australian tour. 

    “Against Pakistan A we won two matches out of five, and won against Afghanistan. We are shaping up nicely.”

    Recommended