Aaqib Javed has resigned as UAE coach and is likely to work with Lahore Qalanders in the Pakistan Super League. He said there are UAE players good enough for the PSL and here are four of them.
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Shaiman Anwar
The only UAE player who made it into the draft for the first PSL this year, only to be left on the shelf. Shaiman, who saves his best performances for the big occasions in front of the TV cameras, has since impressed most notably against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, when he attacked Shahid Afridi’s bowling. Age is not on his side. He turned 37 last month, but T20 is an old man’s game, anyway.
Mohammed Naveed
Aaqib’s crowning achievement in his time here was turning Naveed from a raw, tape-ball cricketer into the leader of the UAE attack. The fast-bowler’s remarkable ascent reached a new high in a series of outstanding performances at the Asia Cup. His economy rate of 5.22 in T20 internationals so far this year is the best in the world among anyone who has bowled a significant number of overs – better even than Samuel Badree, Mustafizur Rahman or Ravi Ashwin.
Ahmad Javed
The UAE captain in Twenty20 cricket is unrelentingly positive much like his soon-to-be-erstwhile coach. As such, the UAE’s shock qualification for the Asia Cup came as nothing like a shock to him. He finished that competition as its leading wicket-taker, with 12. Even though the UAE did not play at the World T20 that followed, Amjad remains fifth in the list of wicket-takers in T20 internationals in 2016, having played far less matches than those around him.
Ahmed Raza
Captain in 50 over and four-day cricket, Raza has not always been trusted in the shortest format. His miserly display with the ball at the Asia Cup, when he went for the best part of four matches without being hit to the boundary, showed he is emerging as a force in T20 cricket as well now. Sharjah-born, the tall left-arm spinner is a smart thinker and one of the UAE’s outstanding fielders, too. “The way Ahmed has improved his game, he is a very promising and intelligent player,” Aaqib said.
