UAE have named a strong 14-member squad led by experienced campaigner Khurram Khan as they bid to win the ICC Intercontinental Shield final against Namibia to be held in Dubai next month.
The four-day match organised by the International Cricket Council gets under way at the ICC Global Cricket Academy ground from December 2 to 5. The winner of the final will be the team which achieves an outright victory
Having beaten Namibia by four wickets in the league stage, the home team may hold a slight advantage. But overall Namibia have done well in the tournament, finishing on top in the league with 46 points, a good nine points ahead of the UAE-Emirates Cricket Board team.
This could be a factor in the event the final is abandoned without a ball being bowled or the fixture ends in a draw. Then the team which finished on top in the league will be declared as the winner.
In the league stages, UAE recorded two wins – one each against Bermuda and Namibia – and one draw against Uganda while Namibia defeated Bermuda and Uganda after suffering an early loss against UAE. Namibia, however, surged ahead of the UAE in points table because they led their opponents on the basis of the first innings scores in all of their three matches.
The 14-member squad, announced by the Emirates Cricket Board for the finals contains no surprises. “We have a good team and if we play to our potential, we can win the final,” said team manager Mohamed Lokhandwala and these sentiments were echoed by the skipper too.
“Cricket is a team game and everyone will have to chip in if we aim to emerge victorious,” Khurram said. “We have a great respect for Namibia and they have played some wonderful cricket during the league stages. The final will be a good contest.”
In the run-up to the finals, Arshad Ali did extremely well, scoring 393 runs in three matches at an average of 78.60 with a superb hundred against Bermuda while skipper Khurram Khan struck a very vital hundred against Namibia in the second innings during the run chase.
“We did manage to beat Namibia outright in the league stage and collect 14 points and that too after we had conceded the first innings lead, thus we feel more confident, but that game is now history, as that was exactly a year back,” added Lokhandwala.
“Currently we have a new coach in Kabir Khan who has seen a lot of success with Afghanistan and with a few new players who are doing extremely well on the local circuit coming into the side we expect to do better. It will be a new game and as everyone knows. The finals will have its own pressures. We will try and give it our best shot.”
UAE-ECB squad: Khurram Khan (captain), Mohamed Touqir (vice-captain), Abdul Rehman (wicketkeeper), Arshad Ali, Naeemuddin Aslam, Saqib Ali, Amjad Ali, Ahmed Raza, Qasim Zubair, Amjad Javed, Shoaib Sarwar, Swapnil Patil, Shiman Anwar and Aamer Ifthikhar Ali
Reserves: Nigel Fernandez, Arfan Hyder, Riyaz Khaliq and Manjula Guruge
Officials: Mohamed Lokhandawala (Manager), Kabir Khan (Coach), Chitrala Sudhaker (Physio).
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