New captain Rahul Chopra has his work cut out if he is to help save ODI cricket in UAE

National team swap T20 for 50 overs as they try to escape basement of Cricket World Cup League 2 under new leadership after Muhammad Waseem steps down

Rahul Chopra has been handed UAE's ODI captaincy. Photo: ECB

When Rahul Chopra was handed the captaincy armband ahead of the UAE’s return to one-day international cricket this week, it was not clear whether it was an honour or a hospital pass.

The national team start their game against Oman in Muscat on Friday as the strongest team in the Cricket World Cup League 2. On the basis that they are holding all the other seven sides up.

Last place in the table, now they are facing an Oman side who finished second in the competition last time out, and a crack Netherlands outfit who will be eyeing the title. Is there more pain incoming?

At least Chopra has one morsel of optimism ahead of his first assignment in charge. Things couldn’t get any worse. The only way is up.

So, what is up with UAE’s 50-over cricket? Why is a country with so much going for it, with reams of talent, an infrastructure that is the envy of all other Associate nations, and has hosted two ICC World Cups in the past three years, so lacklustre at ODI cricket?

Because the distinction needs to be made. The UAE are not bad at cricket. Not remotely. In fact, in T20 they are a match for anyone, with wins over Test nations like New Zealand, Afghanistan and Ireland in that format in recent times.

They are ranked 16th in the ICC’s standings for T20Is, and even that seems a little low, given their ability in the 20-over game. In ODI cricket, they are 20th, and that feels a little high. But they can’t get any lower as that is where the rankings stop.

Perhaps the answer is the same as most other places: while T20 cricket is loaded, 50-over cricket is a chore.

Domestic cricketers in the Emirates play more 10-over matches than they do 50-over games. The two main longer-format tournaments, the D50 and the Bukhatir League – the oldest and most prestigious cricket competition in the country – are outliers for players fed a diet of T20 and T10 cricket.

No wonder even a player as highly gifted as Muhammad Waseem hasn’t cracked it yet.

Waseem is a wonder of T20 cricket. He is currently 21st in the ICC’s T20 rankings for batters, but has been up in the top 10 of that in the recent past.

When he played the winning hand in that victory over New Zealand in Dubai, Tim Southee, the away captain, said it was no surprise, as Waseem has been doing that sort of thing for years.

In ODI cricket, though, he is washing around at 70 in the ICC rankings.

“I have decided to step down as captain to concentrate on my batting in the ODI format,” Waseem said ahead of the tour to Muscat, as he handed over the reins to Chopra. “My best wishes are with the new captain, I will be giving him my full support.”

The statement announcing Waseem was stepping down from the ODI captaincy said he will continue to be part of the side. But that does not seem like sound business sense for him.

Earlier this year Waseem missed out on playing in the Pakistan Super League. That would have been a fine achievement for a UAE cricketer, and he had a contract waiting for him with two-time champions Islamabad United.

Instead, he had to stay back to play in the CWCL2 against Scotland and Canada, a tepid series in which the UAE were summarily whooped by both teams.

Vriitya Aravind returns to the UAE side. Chris Whiteoak / The National

He could have been earning good money playing against some of the sport’s leading players in Pakistan rather than scratching around trying to figure out how to bat, while leading a misfiring team, at an empty, echoing Dubai International Stadium.

Why bother with 50-over cricket? For all intents and purposes, they don’t, anyway. The national team are bottom of the League 2 table, with just one win – that, too, a stunning comeback effort which they appeared to have lost.

Last time out in Windhoek, they were hammered in the 50-over tri-series against United States and Namibia, with just that one shock win from four matches, only to then win the T20 series that followed.

It makes sense that the focus of players in the UAE would be the abridged versions of the game. Their earning potential is greatest in those two formats.

They have the riches of the DP World International League T20 and Abu Dhabi T10 leagues to aim for. The national team have the Asia Cup T20 to play in next year, too, having qualified for that from a tournament in Muscat earlier this year.

The whole focus of cricket in the country seems geared towards it. Take the ILT20 Development Tournament. That culminated in a ritzy night out for the final earlier in October.

A polished TV production beamed the game into cyberspace. There was live music and a buffet while the game was going on.

The players in the middle looked to be enjoying it. There was an obvious incentive in the form of a potential contract to play in the main ILT20. Andy Flower, the multi-title winning coach, was there in his role as boss of Gulf Giants.

It was a great event, and all of this is not a criticism. It is just that a bridge needs to be found between there and the 50-over game.

Lalchand Rajput, the UAE head coach, said that the bowlers had been put through their paces ahead of their return to ODI cricket after a six-month gap, in Windhoek last month. He reasoned they had to be fit enough to bowl 10 overs.

Well, quite. But there is more to it than that. The batting is surely an area of greater concern. The UAE have only reached 250 twice in their past 18 innings in ODIs.

It is clear they just cannot figure out the right tempo at which to bat. The one win they have had in the latest CWCL2 cycle came when all was lost, and they no longer had to think about the pace at which they had to bat.

Rather, they could just switch to T20 mode, no matter the recriminations. It worked then, but it is hardly a long-term solution for the problems.

At least Vriitya Aravind, one player who does have the stickability and temperament required to build a 50-over innings, has been restored to the squad for the series in Muscat. He is the highest placed UAE batter in the ICC’s ODI batter rankings, by quite some margin, yet has been curiously absent of late.

Tanish Suri, the 19-year-old who was tried then dispensed with earlier this year, is back, too. He impressed in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup at the same ground in Al Amerat in the past week or so. Again, that was in T20 cricket, but his talents do seem suited to the 50-over game.

It is not up to just those two to save the UAE’s fortunes in 50-over cricket. Everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction to make it happen. Otherwise Chopra’s new job will be an impossible one.