Abu Dhabi: Amjad Javed, the UAE’s Twenty-20 captain and one of the seniormost members of the squad, feels that the successor to Aaqib Javed should be a candidate who has retired only recently and is in touch with contemporary cricket.
Having led the UAE team in the Asia Cup and the World T20 tournaments, Javed set out his expectations of the new coach. “He should be someone who should match Aaqib’s calibre. We don’t want big names but someone who can repeat his work. It doesn’t matter if he has very little coaching experience but it should be someone who has retired recently,” Javed said on the sidelines of the Techaccess Cup finals between his team Alubond Tigers and Danube Lions at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
“With Aaqib, we also had batting consultants in Mudassar Nazar and Saqib Ali, the UAE ex-cricketer to guide us. I will prefer someone who is an allrounder though. He should have all three formats’ experience but should know more about the shorter version – T20 and ODI. Our focus is more these formats than the four-day game. T20 cricket has evolved so much so someone who has been [there] and played in that set-up will understand the format better,” said the 35-year-old.
“If you see our last two years’ performance, especially in the T20s, we were simply exceptional. In the T20 World Cup and Asia Cup, we did well. The T20 format does suit us and we can beat any team and we showed that. In the World Cup, except against India, we did well against all teams,” recalled Javed, adding that, the coach who takes over will not have to toil much to get the team in shape.
“The person who is looking for a job of the coach would prefer a team on the resurgence curve. UAE team is now set and on a roll, something that will be ideal for a new coach to build on. He will not need to start from scratch,” said Javed, who also stressed the need for a coach who can speak the language of the players.
“Head coach should be one who knows our language. It will be very difficult to get a foreign coach who doesn’t understand our language to teach us. Most players in the team are from Pakistan and India, so it is important that the coach speaks the language (Hindi or Urdu) that the players understand,” said Javed, also calling for a coach to be appointed at the earliest.
“Soon after Ramadan, we should start full training. During Ramadan many players cannot come or train and can’t put in that 100 per cent. So we need to have the coach by next month,” says Javed, adding that the focus should immediately be on the ICC Intercontinental Cup against Scotland in August.
“We will be having training in UK before we play Scotland and he needs to be 100 per cent prepared for the conditions there. Those conditions are always testing for the players from this part of the world. So I feel the new coach should be here soon and has to work on our flaws and get us ready for that tour,” revealed Javed, who was pretty pleased with the Emirates Cricket Board announcing that the central contract system for many players.
“Definitely the contract system will be a huge change because there will be full-time cricketers. Even if few of them take it up, we will have more fit players in the squad. Working and playing is always difficult and youngsters aspiring to play for UAE can look up to bag contracts,” added Javed.
