Confident UAE hope to upset New Zealand as T20 series begins

Mohammad Abdullah, Gulf Today

A new-look UAE will fancy their chances of winning their first Twenty20 series against a Test playing nation when they take on a depleted New Zealand in the opener on Thursday.

This is the second time in the year that the UAE are playing a bilateral series against a Test playing nation in their home ground. The UAE played a three-match series earlier this year.

Mohammad Waseem will make his T20I captaincy debut. Two uncapped youngsters – all-rounder Faraazuddin and left-arm spinner Jash Giyanani – have been roped in after putting up a consistent performance in the domestic cricket. Waseem expressed his gratitude towards the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) for organising the series.

“First of all, I am thankful to the board for giving us the opportunity to play with a Test playing nation. It will be a huge learning curve for us. We will try to play good cricket and win the series.

“We are not feeling any kind of pressure because we are going to play in our ground and we know the conditions very well,” said Waseem.

Talking about his previous experience of playing against the West Indies in the three-match series, Waseem said: “It was a great experience. Though we lost the series we learnt a lot of things and will try to implent them in this series as well as try to avoid the mistakes that we made earlier.”

Waseem ruled out that the UAE batting depends on him by and large. If he gives a good platform then the other players can capitalise on that to post a fighting total but if he fails, the rest of the batsmen come under pressure.

“This issue has been resolved. We have very good batsmen in the side and there is a lot of depth in out batting now. It does not make any difference now whether I get out early or play a big innings. But I will try my best to hang around for as many overs as possible,” he added.

Prolific ODI batsman Asif Khan is also set to make his T20I debut after a series of impressive performances in ODIs including the fastest century for an Associate Member batter earlier this year in Nepal.

“We will try to capitalise on the home advantage by exploiting the conditions, which we are used. We will try to beat them. When you perform against such big teams then you are noticed,” said Asif.

UAE batsman Vriitya Arvind also described the opportunity of playing against New Zealand as a great learning experience.

“Hopefully, we can win a few games. It will be a great opportunity to learn. This experience will help us when we play in the World Cup qualifiers in November.”

New Zealand captain Tim Southee ruled out any kind of complacency against the UAE.

“UAE are a developing team but they have great potential and they can cause big upsets on a given day. So we are not going to take anything lightly and will try and take the challenge seriously,” said Southee.

With an eye on the World Cup in India a few months later, Southee is looking to test the bench strength.

“Though we are going to play a T20 series but whatever cricket we play in the run-up to the World Cup will help the team in the preparation for the showpiece event. Our full strength team has not come here. But we will try to play the best possible eleven and will not leave any stone unturned to win the series,” he added.

New Zealand have come to the UAE with a second-string squad, which does not feature regular players like Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Ish Sodhi. They will return when New Zealand go to England for a four-match T20I and ODI series, which begins on Aug.30.

“It is a good opportunity for the young players to showcase their talent and grab the chance with both the hands before the World Cup. They can claim a spot in the squad for the World Cup. The wickets here are fresh and have not been used for a long time. So I think it is a good cricket pitch will help the spinners and pacers alike,” he added.