UAE cricket captain Amjad Javed urges teammates to ‘think about the final’ of the first Desert T20

DUBAI // Amjad Javed, the UAE captain, has told his players to believe they can reach the final of the first Desert Twenty20, despite being pitted in a daunting group.

The national team have been drawn in Pool A for the eight-team, 20-over tournament, meaning they will face Afghanistan and Ireland, the top two sides from this tier of the sport of most of the recent past.

Afghanistan whitewashed the UAE in a three-match series last month, while Ireland went undefeated for 15 years, up until last February.

However, Amjad believes the host nation have nothing to fear, citing the fact they beat both teams ahead of the Asia Cup T20 in Bangladesh last year.

UAE beat Ireland in Abu Dhabi before boarding the plane to Dhaka for that competition. Buoyed by that success, they then shocked Afghanistan to reach the final phase, where they played India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

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■ Adnan Mufti set for UAE debut as ECB name team to face Namibia

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“I’ve told my guys to think about the final, because we beat them in the previous tournament matches,” Amjad said.

“If you have beaten a team, there will be a psychological edge. The guys are really confident about that. Starting a new year, when you have been losing games, if you win some matches, it will create confidence.”

Despite a tough 2016, the UAE will start their home competition in good spirits when they face Namibia in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The senior side claimed a warm-up win this week, while their B-team also beat the Netherlands in practice on Wednesday, led by a second 50 in successive days by Ghulam Shabbir, the first team’s wicketkeeper.

According to Zayed Abbas, the official spokesman of the Emirates Cricket Board, the other sides will be wary of the “great players” in the UAE team.

“We don’t decide which group we fall into,” Abbas said. “I think we should try the best we can. At the end of the day it is the experience that matters.

“We have a long way to go. We have a lot of tournaments coming up in the future. This is just the beginning of 2017.

“I won’t say it’s difficult and I won’t say it is easy for the other teams to play against us. We have a great team with great players. The only thing they need to do is get out there and try to win.”

The new tournament has been received with great enthusiasm by a group of teams who regularly state they need more competitive cricket.

Ireland’s captain William Porterfield said the event provides an unexpected opportunity for a squad that includes several new faces.

“It is more cricket and the chance for us to gain plenty of experience,” Porterfield said.

“In the middle of our winter, it was great for this competition to crop up. There are strong sides here, which should make for a good competition.

“In this format, anyone can turn up on the day and change a game. Every team has got those players, it doesn’t matter if you play them first or last, you have to play at your best to beat them.”

Desert Twenty20

■ Pool A: Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland, Namibia

■ Pool B: Netherlands, Scotland, Hong Kong, Oman

Fixtures

Saturday, January 14