From sales executive to UAE cricket captain, Waseem ready for Tim Southee's New Zealand

When Muhammad Waseem left Pakistan seven years ago to look for a job in the UAE, playing cricket at the highest level was a luxury he could not dream of.

Waseem's cricket CV featured a few district-level matches in Mian Channu, a small town in Pakistan's Punjab province.

But it was good enough to earn him a few local matches in the UAE as he juggled his life as a sales executive and a club cricketer.

Eventually, his talent for clean ball striking grabbed the attention of the national selectors as he went on to make his UAE debut in 2021.

Now, the sturdy 29-year-old opening batsman carries UAE's hopes on his broad shoulders in every match.

He is now easily the best associate-level batsman in T20 internationals with 942 runs in just 23 T20 international matches at 42.81.

These runs have come at a fantastic strike rate of 144.

But Waseem also proved himself on the big stage when he finished the inaugural edition of the DP World ILT20, UAE's IPL-style franchise T20 league, as the fourth-highest scorer behind Alex Hales, James Vince and Kieron Pollard.

He scored 367 runs in 10 matches for MI Emirates against some of the world's top international bowlers.

It was a performance that even earned him an admirer in Virender Sehwag.

"Waseem is an exciting player. I watched him bat at the ILT20 and what impressed me was that he was not afraid of going for his shots against any bowler," Sehwag told this reporter during an event in Dubai recently.

Now Waseem will be hoping to inspire the UAE team to play without fear when he makes his debut as T20 captain in a three-match series against New Zealand on Thursday in Dubai.

The Tim Southee-led New Zealand is missing a few of the regular players, but they have still brought a strong team featuring Jimmy Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner and Tim Seifert for the UAE series.

"It's a great chance for us to play against a Test-playing nation. It's a great opportunity for our players to show their skills against a top team like New Zealand," Waseem told reporters after the trophy unveiling ceremony on Wednesday.

"We are not feeling any kind of pressure. We will try our best to give the New Zealanders a tough time and hopefully, we will win."

In recent international matches, the UAE team seem to have developed a tendency to be overdependent on Waseem the batsman whose early dismissal often sparks a batting collapse.

But the team, Waseem says, is now learning not to depend on one individual.

Young wicketkeeper-batsman Vriitya Aravind and swashbuckling middle-order batter Asif Khan, who will be making his T20 debut on Thursday, are capable of putting up a fight against any team.

"I think that will end soon because we have some good batters who are ready to share the responsibility," Waseem said.

"Vriitya is a very good player, Asif is a fine batsman too. Hopefully, all our batters will rise to the challenge and help the team if I get out early.

"Of course, I would want to bat long, but if I do get out early, we have the players to share the batting burden for our team."

In about nine months' time, the 2024 T20 World Cup will kick off in the West Indies and the US.

• UAE's Pakistan-born cricketer Muhammad Waseem enjoying the spotlight in ILT20