DUBAI // The UAE’s cricketers will utilise coach Aaqib Javed’s experience of the playing conditions in New Zealand when they compete in the ICC World Cup Qualifier, which starts on Monday.
They fly out of Dubai on Tuesday morning full of hope as they bid for a place at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. If they finish in the top two in the 10-team tournament, they will be playing in their first World Cup since 1996.
“I have been to New Zealand five or six times as a player and have a pretty good idea of the wickets,” said Aaqib, the former Pakistan fast bowler.
“It will not be scary with the ball moving and seaming prodigiously at this time of the year.
“We have a good seam attack which we didn’t use fully in the recent World Twenty20 Qualifier in the Emirates. In New Zealand, we may use them against teams that play our spinners well, particularly Nepal.
“We have experienced batters too to cope with the seaming deliveries. Overall, we have prepared well for this competition, both physically and mentally, and are ready for the matches.”
The UAE squad has been training at indoor and outdoor facilities at the ICC Global Cricket Academy for three weeks.
They begin with two official warm-up matches against Uganda at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Friday and the Netherlands the next day at the same venue.
“The original plan was to travel early so we could play some extra games but the majority of the players had problems in sorting out leave issues with their employers,” Aaqib said when asked why the UAE were travelling so late.
The majority of the teams have been in New Zealand for the past two weeks. “The players should be able to adapt to the time change and conditions in 36 hours or 48 maximum. This is the norm nowadays with any team,” Aaqib said.
“So there are no issues [that would cause] our players to complain to the time change and conditions in New Zealand.
“The two warm-up games will be very useful to us as that would be the only preparation in New Zealand, apart from the training, we would have.”
The UAE meet Nepal in their first qualifying match in Group A on Monday and Canada two days later, both at the Mainpower Oval, Rangiora. Next up for them are Scotland on January 19 and Hong Kong four days later, both at the Queenstown Events Centre.
Group B comprises of the Netherlands, Kenya, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and Uganda.
“If we go by our rating we are the No 1 in our group,” Aaqib said of the fact the UAE finished third in the World Cricket League Championship behind Ireland and Afghanistan, who both earned spots at the World Cup.
“Of course we need to respect all teams and play true to our potential to achieve our objectives.”
The 10 teams are divided into two groups with the top three sides from each group progressing to the Super Six stage.
The top two sides from the Super Six stage will reach the final and qualify for the 14-team World Cup.
Shadeep Silva, the left-arm spinner, said the thought of playing in the World Cup was enough to motivate the entire squad.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to play on cricket’s biggest stage,” the 35-year-old Sri Lankan said.
“We are not even guaranteed a place but I just can’t stop dreaming of playing in the World Cup. The sheer thought motivates me and I assume it is the same with every player in the squad.
“Hopes are sky high. I don’t know about the others, but this is my first trip to New Zealand. Obviously I am very excited. However, I have a big role to play. Performance is the key for me and I am ready for it.”
apassela@thenational.ae
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm kick-off UAE)
Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Cologne (5.30pm)
Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld (5.30pm)
Augsburg v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Bayern Munich (8.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Freiburg (10.30pm)
Sunday
VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v Hertha Berlin (8pm)
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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Results for Stage 2
Stage 2 Yas Island to Abu Dhabi, 184 km, Road race
Overall leader: Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
Stage winners: 1. Fernando Gaviria COL (UAE Team Emirates) 2. Elia Viviani ITA (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) 3. Caleb Ewan AUS (Lotto - Soudal)
PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
match info
Chelsea 2
Willian (13'), Ross Barkley (64')
Liverpool 0
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If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
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Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
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History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
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Power: 542bhp
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On sale: now
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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
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Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
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The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
- 7 - million dollars, the film's budget
