UAE will face the toughest possible start to the World Cup of indoor cricket.
The men’s team begin the tournament, which will be played at Insportz, Dubai next month, by facing a New Zealand side that has Jesse Ryder in their ranks.
Ryder, who has played Test cricket, as well as in the Indian Premier League, and is currently participating in the Caribbean Premier League, is the most high-profile player in the competition.
The host nation follow that by playing Australia, the nine-time World Cup winners, at the start of Day 2.
The fledgling UAE women’s team, meanwhile, will have to bridge a significant gap in terms of experience in their opener against Australia.
The home side, who are essentially the women’s outdoor national team, have played little indoor cricket to date.
They will be up against an Australia side who, like their male compatriots, have won the World Cup each time it has been staged to date.
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Rather than being daunted by the prospect, the UAE men's players are looking forward to the challenge.
That is the view of Sameer Nayak, who is one of several players in the UAE side who have also represented the country in the outdoor format.
“I’ve seen [Ryder] hit the ball really far outdoors, and I am thinking about how he is going to play indoors,” Nayak said.
“It is actually a good opportunity for us to play against a player like him and to test ourselves.
“It is good for us that the first two games are against New Zealand and Australia. They are the toughest, so after that we will be in a good position to plan and get the skills.
“It is always important to get wins, but also the skills to go with it.”
The men’s competition involves one group of nine teams.
The hosts will also face India, who have a UAE involvement both in terms of the management team and Karan Singh Sandhu, a Dubai-based player, and Sri Lanka, who have several players who formerly worked in UAE.
According to Andy Russell, the Emirates Cricket Board development manager, who has overseen the progress of the indoor teams, facing the toughest teams at the start could help the host teams.
“I don’t think we could have asked for it to be any harder, to be perfectly honest,” Russell said.
“It will be a shock to the system for some of the guys who haven’t played at that level, but they are excited and it can only get better from that point of view.
“Australia have won every World Cup since the beginning, so to even compete against them would be a big learning curve for the guys.”
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Indoor cricket World Cup
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
