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Kabir Khan set to coach UAE cricket team

KARACHI — Former Afghanistan cricket coach Kabir Khan said on Saturday that he had agreed to accept a position as coach of the United Arab Emirates.

“I have agreed to take over as UAE coach on a three-year deal and my target will be to help the team to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in 2012,” Khan told AFP from his hometown, Peshawar.

The 36-year-old, who played four Tests and 10 one-day internationals for Pakistan in the 1990s, guided Afghanistan to a third-place finish in the ICC (International Cricket Council) Division One last year.

Afghanistan narrowly missed out on a place in the 2011 World Cup (50 overs), to be jointly co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

But Khan managed to see the Afghanistan team through to the second edition of the World Twenty20, held in the West Indies earlier this year.

However, he resigned as coach after falling out with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in August this year.

Khan claimed problems with the ACB prompted him to leave the job, handing it to former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif.

Khan said that the UAE team had tremendous potential.

“The UAE team played the World Cup (50 overs) in 1996 so the idea will be to help them qualify for the World Twenty20 and help them achieve good status.

“UAE have a lot of potential and the administration is also keen on improving the team, so I will do my best to help UAE regain their status at international level and there is enough talent to achieve that,” said Khan.