Abu Dhabi: Mudassar Nazar, head of development at the International Cricket Council Academy, has been roped in as the batting coach of the UAE national team until the ICC cricket World Cup next year.
Nazar is confident that his expertise will be handy for the UAE team’s development ahead of the event in Australia and New Zealand next year.
Speaking to Gulf News at the academy yesterday, Nazar said: “I decided to be a part of the UAE system as a batting coach because I have been more of a batsman than a bowler. I have coached teams like Kenya in the past. I know what limitations the UAE batting [team] has.
“If you look right across the scorecard of the previous matches, they have always been 30 for 4 or 40 for 4 and then the lower order has scripted a recovery. I know I have make them mentally strong to play at the highest level.”
“Certainly, it will be a test for me and the boys but we are game for the challenge and will be working towards it in the coming months. I’m looking to leverage all my experience to the boys,” added the former all-rounder, who played in 76 Tests and 122 One-Day Internationals for Pakistan.
However, Nazar said that technical flaws can always been worked upon at any stage in a player’s career. His response followed a question whether he thought some UAE players were too old to change their approach.
“I think even the best batsman in the world can develop some flaw or the other in his batting over the years. You have to constantly work on your batting to keep improving. Batting on fast and bouncy wickets will be a test for these boys and their technique will be tested. That’s where I come into the picture; to let them know how to do that,” added Nazar, who will be travelling with the 15-member squad from the World Cup probables for a tour of Australia on September 7 to play matches in Perth and Darwin.
“This tour is going to be the key. We have to make the most of this tour. It is a huge opportunity for them to learn how to tackle the conditions there. The five odd matches against Australia national sides will be a huge learning curve for them,” said the 58-year-old.
UAE coach Aaqib Javed also backed the move of roping in Nazar as the batting coach and felt it would be a huge boost for him and the team to have the former Pakistan all-rounder on board.
“Mudassar has a vast coaching experience and that’s one reason he is on board. He has the experience of playing against bowlers like [Jeff] Thomson and [Dennis] Lillee and can guide the batsmen on how to bat on wickets at Waca and Gabba that will have lot of pace and bounce,” said Javed, who was instrumental in guiding UAE to the 2015 World Cup after a gap of 18 years.
