The UAE players will board their flight to Melbourne ahead of the T20 World Cup on Thursday better for the experience of their series loss to Bangladesh.
That is the view of CP Rizwan, the national team captain. He insists the two-game series in Dubai was just the sort of “great learning curve” his side require before the bigger tests that await in Australia.
The hosts lost by seven runs against their celebrated opposition on Sunday night. That was followed by a more comprehensive 32-run defeat on Tuesday, despite a fine half-century by Rizwan himself.
“It was great experience for us playing against them,” Rizwan said. “We had our moments. We lost wickets in clusters. We had the same in the second game in the top order as we had in the middle order in the first match.
“But there were also a lot of positives. We almost had them, but we missed a couple of chances in the field.
“We put them under pressure in bowling and batting, so there are a lot of positives from this series. They are a Test-playing nation, who are playing matches regularly.
“To play against them is a great learning curve, especially for a guy like Aayan Khan, who is just 16 years old playing his first two matches. He did a great job.”
UAE, in 13th, are just four places below Bangladesh in the ICC rankings for T20 sides. Yet they have played 16 fewer matches in the time period which makes up the calculations.
Their next opponents, West Indies, who they face in a World Cup warm up match in St Kilda on October 11, are ranked No 7 in the world.
Rizwan says his team need to learn lessons fast if they are to bridge the gap and make their mark on the World Cup, which will start for them against Netherlands in Geelong on October 16.
“Batsmen have to find a way,” Rizwan said when addressing the issue of losing wickets in clusters. “We have to keep playing percentage shots initially to make sure we don’t lose our wickets, but also ensure we don’t lose sight of the required run rate.
“It is about playing percentage cricket shots, then when you get set you can go for the big shots.”
Rizwan himself provided a decent template in the second match against Bangladesh.
He scored at a run-a-ball in the initial phase of his innings, after coming in when three wickets had been lost for two runs in the space of seven deliveries. By the end of the innings, he had made 51 not out from 36 balls.
“If you don’t play percentage shots initially, the risk of getting out is higher,” said Rizwan, whose 90-run partnership with Basil Hameed was the highest by a non-Test nation in T20Is against Bangladesh.
“You have to ensure you are behind the ball and play good solid shots. We lost four wickets in the first seven overs. If we had got a good start like we did in the first match, the story might have been different.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
More on Quran memorisation:
Under 19 Cricket World Cup, Asia Qualifier
Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
Saturday, April 13, UAE v Nepal
Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Aaron Benjamin, Akasha Mohammed, Alishan Sharafu, Anand Kumar, Ansh Tandon, Ashwanth Valthapa, Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Rishab Mukherjee, Niel Lobo, Osama Hassan, Vritya Aravind, Wasi Shah
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Fuel economy, combined: 8.5L / 100km
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Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GAC GS8 Specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Brief scores:
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
