WT20Q team preview: United Arab Emirates

Overview

The women from the United Arab Emirates have a pretty straightforward motto: ‘One dream, one team’.

“Our No.1 goal is to qualify for the ICC World T20. If we play as a team and go according to our plans and strategies while also being tactical, then we are pretty much on target,” said Humaira Tasneem, the team captain, upon arrival in the Netherlands on Monday, 2 July.

With Bangladesh and the Netherlands in their group at the qualifiers, getting to the marquee event will require the women from the UAE to punch well above their weight, but they are confident of pulling it off.

“It is for the first time that the UAE team is on the world stage against opposition like Bangladesh and the Netherlands [in Group A], who already have international experience,” said Murali Sockalingam, the team coach. “Playing them is the toughest challenge but our objective is to play the World T20 in the West Indies by winning the Qualifiers.”

The team had been training indoors in the UAE before making the trip to get used to the lower temperatures in the Netherlands, and part of their confidence comes from the kind of form Esha Oza, the opener, Nisha Ali, the star all-rounder, and Chamani Senevirathne, the former captain of Sri Lanka Women, are in.

There is some experience there, and a nice mix of cultures, with players from various parts of the world dreaming together, which should make the UAE one of the more interesting teams to follow at the tournament.

History in the WWT20

This is the first time for the UAE at this level, and they have reached there after doing exceedingly well in the Asian leg of the ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifying Series 2017, where they finished runners-up to Thailand, the hosts, after getting the better of China, Nepal, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Player to watch out for Nisha Ali: The 31-year-old all-rounder was in outstanding form in the Asian qualifiers. She topped the charts with both bat and ball, scoring 90 runs in six innings with a best of 36* and picking up 12 wickets at an economy rate of 2.34. That’s pretty outstanding, and UAE will hope for her to keep up the good work as they chase their dream.

Schedule

7 July: v the Netherlands
8 July: v Papua New Guinea
10 July: v Bangladesh

**Squad:**Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne, Chaya Mughal, Esha Oza, Heena Hotchandani, Ishni Senavirathna, Judit Cleetus, Kavisha Kumari, Namita D’Souza, Neha Sharma, Nisha Ali, Roopa Nagaraj, Subha Srinivasan, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi