Dubai: The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has taken a giant leap forward by fielding UAE national men and women’s team for the upcoming World Indoor Cricket Federation’s World Cup, commencing on September 16 at the Insportz Club.

As the men’s team make their debut in a high profile international tournament, it is the first experience of indoor cricket for the women’s team.

Natasha Michael, who is among the first to play women’s cricket here and at the age of 13 went on to lead the UAE women’s team in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Tournament in 2007, is the captain of the women’s indoor team.

Saqib Nazir, who as an indoor cricket player has been consistently winning the best player award in domestic cricket, leads the men’s team.

Both teams have been training at the Insportz for the last one month. Speaking to Gulf News, Natasha and Saqib shared their plans and hopes and preparations for the World Cup. Natasha knows that it is into a different arena that her players are stepping into as all players had only played outdoor cricket in UAE. “All my players have represented UAE national team in international tournaments but it will be first time for the girls in indoor cricket but we are all excited about it and all of us have taken it as a challenge. We girls always wanted a push and we want everyone to know that our team existed.”

Hectic time for women

It has been a hectic time for the women’s team as all players had to first understand the art of playing indoor cricket. “We watched YouTube videos of the 2014 indoor world cup. The standard of the other teams are high but for us the experience is going to be very important. It is our first time and we have nothing to lose but everything to gain and hence will go all out to do our best,” added Natasha.

When asked about how different is indoor cricket from outdoor cricket, Natasha said: “Both are similar in many ways but different too. Indoor is quicker and everyone has to be on their feet as the ball is always alive. It is important to be mentally switched on all the time and or that you needed to overcome many mental barriers.”

The UAE women’s team has been focusing on physical fitness heavily. “In indoor cricket physical fitness is vital. Our coaches have been teaching various indoor batting techniques. Our biggest advantage is that the UAE men’s team is training next to us and captain Saqib and Sameer Nayak, who are experienced indoor players, have been helping us a lot. We have our ECB coach Shah Hussain and Insportz’s Mohammad Gaus guiding us,” said Natasha, who is also hoping that the indoor experience and fitness drills will help the team brace well for the outdoor ICC World Cup qualifiers, to be held in Thailand in November.

Rich in experience

The UAE men’s team players are rich in experience through domestic cricket. All the players are well known faces in indoor cricket and their exploits have won laurels. “Indoor cricket till now was confined to playing in domestic tournaments representing the various companies. Through World Cup we will enter a new phase and we may get to participate in international indoor cricket regularly. We are thankful to ECB for creating an UAE national team,” said Saqib, who is the only player to have played in an indoor World Cup in the team.

“I played in 2004 World Cup and captained Insportz UAE in the event. I am honoured to be picked as the first captain of UAE national indoor team now. Our team is a blend of youth and experience and our target is to reach the semi-final,” said Saqib, who was introduced into indoor cricket by Anis Sajan of Danube.

GIve our best

“I played for Danube from 2002 to 2012 and it is Sajan’s encouragement that helped me take up indoor cricket seriously. I joined DBMSC Steel team four years ago and it is now the most formidable team in the UAE.

“Seven out of the 12 players in the UAE team are from DBMSC. We have experienced players like UAE’s opener Ramveer Rai and Vikrant Shetty. Both were approached by the India indoor team to play for them but they opted for UAE wanting to serve the country that let them do well in indoor cricket.

“We also have an UAE national player in Fahad Al Hashmi who played for the UAE in the 2016 World Cup. With Murali Sockalingam as head coach, Mohammad Gaus and Rohan Nayak as coaches and Menino Po as manager we are backed by experienced support staff and we will give our best.”

Teams

Men’s team: Saqib Nazir (C), Aqib Malik, Fahad Al Hashmi, Isuru Umesh, Nadir Hussain, Sachin Talwar, Nashwan Nasir, Prashath Kumara, Ramveer Rai, Sameer Nayak, Umar Shah and Vikrant Shetty.

Women’s team: Natasha Michael (C), Prachi Kumar, Chaya Mughal, Esha Oza, Fatimah Ahsan, Heena Hotchandani, Humaira Tasneem, Kavisha Kumari, Namitha D’Souza, Roopa Nagraj, Subha Srinivasan and Shalani Wanniarachachi.