• Home
• /
• Cricket

Kabir named UAE coach

DUBAI — The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Tuesday that Kabir Khan has been appointed as the coach of the UAE national team.

Kabir is known for his hard work and friendliness with players. He has guided Afghanistan to one-day international status and the World Twenty20 finals earlier this year.

He has spent 8-10 months with UAE players and now he is rejoining the ECB.

He has done wonders with Afghanistan but will he be able to repeat his performance as a coach in UAE.

Kabir needs a pool of players and time to get UAE team ready for big tasks.

He needs players at the training ground to make them match-fit. The UAE team has been revolving around few names (Arshad Ali, Khurram Khan, Mohammed Tauqir and Saqib Ali). If you take these players out the team will struggle to beat even minnows.

UAE participated in 1996 World Cup but the performance of the team has declined in recent years. The team needs young blood and genuine efforts to catch newcomers like Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The game is gaining popularity worldwide and new teams are joining the international arena. It is high time for UAE to introduce professionalism and raise the standards of the game.

Cricket lovers in UE hope that rehiring of Kabir will inject new fervour in the team to perform well on international stage.

Kabir, the former Pakistan international, knows the boys well and will be able to extract best out of them. He will be a great help to groom youngsters in UAE.

“I am totally committed to grooming the UAE squad,” said Kabir.

“We have an upcoming tour of Kenya later this month (October) and then the Shield final against Namibia in Dubai on December 2, and this will be followed by ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in April.

“God willing, you will see the results,” said Kabir.

“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 Kabir.

liaqat@khaleejtimes.com