DUBAI // A new UAE coach is expected to be appointed by the time Aaqib Javed officially ends his tenure on May 31. That will give the next man around two months to win over his new charges before the next playing engagement, in Scotland in August.
It is going to be a tough ask. According to Ahmed Raza, the UAE captain, Aaqib is going to be “dearly missed,” even though it does mean the players are less likely to be shown up in fitness drills now.
“We still see him in the gym lifting more than any of us could lift,” Raza said of Aaqib.
The outgoing coach’s four years in the role brought with them many changes. One of his initial triumphs was changing the players’ attitude to training and nutrition.
On his first day in the job in 2012, Aaqib spent the whole of the lunch interval in a one-day match runnings laps of the boundary in Sharjah, rather than addressing his players. Maybe he is just shy, they thought. Then the penny dropped.
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“We had been fielding for 50 overs and, at lunch time in April, he went out and ran 10 laps,” Raza said.
“I’m sure none of us could even do five. When we saw that we realised what we needed to do. That was the day of his first assignment with us.
“He got the weighing machine, he gave us targets saying we had to reach them. After those ODIs he went back to Pakistan to tie up some loose ends, and told us he wanted to see those improvements in one month.”
Raza himself dropped 8kgs in that time - and 20 overall, from 110 down to 90. Now he is the national team captain.
He says the coach was quick to break the ice from being “The Aaqib Javed” to being “just Aaqib-bhai” - the paternalistic boss whom Raza believes took more pride in his players’ successes than they did.
“He told us if you are willing to put in the hard work, I will change your life,” said the left-arm spinner.
“I am a totally different cricketer now and I will always thank him for that. He told me ‘I want to do this for you,’ and in terms of pride, if I do well, he has been more proud of my performances than I have.”
Raza’s theory holds true. Aaqib’s favourite moment of his stint in charge was earlier this month, when Mohammed Naveed returned from a trip to Pakistan saying people had seen him on TV and wanted their pictures taken with him.
Naveed had been a pet project during Aaqib’s time here. By the end, he had made him a star.
“I inspired the players during the World Cup qualification in New Zealand [in 2014], and told them it was a life changing moment for them,” Aaqib said.
“If you do well, you will be in a different league of international players. People will want to take pictures with you and you will be heroes.
“This is what has happened. Naveed came from Pakistan last month and said, ‘Coach, I had such a wonderful trip - people wanted to have photographs with me on the flight and at the airport’.
“That for me was the biggest moment in my life during the time I have been with UAE cricket.”
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