UAE captain Khurram Khan insists the players are riding high on confidence but admits his team must improve their fielding when they take on Netherlands in their World Twenty20 opener.
It will be the first World Twenty20 match for the UAE, who also face Zimbabwe on Wednesday and Ireland on Friday in Group B.
UAE know they must top the group to advance to the Super 10 stage where England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand await.
“I’m happy with the team so far," declared Khan. "The batsmen are doing their job and the bowlers are doing well. My only concern is the fielding as it’s not up to scratch. We have to be much better on the field beginning with Netherlands as there will be strong powerful batsmen in the competition.”
The UAE won and lost against the Netherlands in their two practice matches earlier this month, but Khan is aware that there is much more at stake in Monday's game.
“We know Netherlands pretty well. We have played them a few times and we know what dangers they pose. At the same time I would think they (Netherlands) would know us quite well,” said the 42-year-old.
“In any match we can’t take any opponent lightly especially Netherlands and that it’s our first game of the tournament. It’s the shortest format of the game so we have to be at our best in every department from the first ball to the last ball of the game. I’m confident that if we perform to our abilities we can give them a good test.”
The UAE can draw confidence from their two impressive performances in the warm-up games – a narrow four-wicket loss to hosts Bangladesh and a six-wicket win over Nepal on Friday.
“If you take the last two matches (Bangladesh and Nepal) then we did very well. We gave a very tough time to Bangladesh on their home ground and played superbly against Nepal. The team is in good shape and we are hoping to repeat the performances in this campaign,” said Khan.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe face Ireland with both sides knowing the outcome of the match could decide who qualifies for the Super 10.
Both teams lost one of their two warm-up matches with Zimbabwe losing by six four wickets while Bangladesh beat Ireland by 44 runs.
Ireland captain William Porterfield refused to say who will eventually qualify, noting that all four teams are in contention to advance.
“If you think it will all come down to one match you are underestimating other teams in the group. If you are doing that you are putting yourself on the back foot really. It is an important game, every game is,” he said.
“There are three games; you need to win three to move into the Super 10. That is our aim, that is our objective and that is what we are looking to do.”
