Friday’s competition at Dubai’s Sevens ground is the first outing for the national team since their impressive showing at last month’s Asia Cup, which was held in Bangladesh.
As underdogs for the lone automatic berth, Raza and his team-mates stunned Afghanistan, Oman and Hong Kong to qualify for the main competition, before pushing Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their close defeats.
They will be aiming to replicate that success in the one-day tournament which features the MCC, led by England international Ian Bell, Lancashire and defending champions Yorkshire.
While it’s considered a pre-season competition for the English sides ahead of the start of next month’s domestic season, Raza insists they want to make a strong impression.
“It’s very important that we carry the momentum from what we gained at the Asia Cup,” said the 27-year-old spinner, whose side face English T20 domestic champions Lancashire in the semi-final.
“If we don’t take that form and confidence into this tournament, we’ll be quite disappointed. We don’t want people to raise their eyebrows that the Asia Cup was a one-off performance.
“We are the UAE national team and coming up against some of the best English county sides in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
“We’re not just there to make up the numbers, we want to do well and go as far as possible and hopefully win the competition.”
Raza is one of the experienced players in a new-look 14-man squad, led by Amjad Javed.
Only nine have been retained from the team that travelled to the Asia Cup with batsmen Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Qasim, Rameez Shahzad and bowlers Mohammad Ayaz and Imran Haider drafted in.
Despite the changes, Raza feels there’s plenty of talent in their side that can cause a lot of problems for the opposition.
“The new guys have been doing really well in training and shown a lot of promise,” he said.
“As a team and individuals, you want to play against players and teams who are better than you. Some of the best young English players are here, while Ian Bell is an exceptional player.
“We have some dangerous players and we will want to make a strong impact. We want to test our skills and we want to prove a point and do well.”
He added: “It’s important that we focus on our game. We’ve noticed that everyone seems to have watched us on television in the Asia Cup. The Emirates Airline T20 is a great competition that brings a lot of crowd.”
For Lancashire, it’s the first time they will be playing in the shortest format since they won the English T20 Blast competition in August.
And captain Steven Croft feels the UAE will provide a stern test for his players.
“We’re going to be taking the tournament very seriously,” said the 31-year-old all-rounder.
“I think T20 is great for cricket in general and we’ve seen some of the Associates do really well in the World Twenty20. If you look at the skill level, it’s really high. You can’t take anyone for granted. It’s really pleasing to see the Associates doing really well and you have to give them the respect they deserve.”
Now in its seventh edition, the Emirates Airline Twenty20 has gone from strength to strength and Sport Arabia’s managing director Matthew Jackson insists this year’s will be no different.
“We think the Emirates Airline Twenty20 brings a unique cricketing experience. It provides top quality cricketers and is a great day out for families,” Jackson said.
For tickets and more information, visit www.emiratest20.com.
