Amjad Javed came of age as an international cricketer with his spectacular century against Denmark in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. The Dubai-born all-rounder, smoothed the UAE's passage to the next stage of the qualification process by hitting a whirlwind 164 from just 117 balls.
Amazingly for a player of such talent, Javed found himself in the wilderness last summer when he was dropped from the national team for the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Trophy in Malaysia. Indeed, Javed's statistics so far in his fledgling international career have rarely been commensurate with his rich potential - until now. "On the morning of the game I felt it was my time to do something special," he said. "After we won against the Netherlands in the previous game, it was up to someone to keep the momentum going.
"Luckily, I was able to play my natural game and batted well. I like to get after the bowling and hit sixes. I have been performing in domestic cricket since last summer, and won the Shyam Bhatia Award for the best all-rounder. I think that gave the selectors the boost they needed." Mohammed Lokhandwala, the UAE's team manager in South Africa, nearly ran out of platitudes for Javed's stunning effort against the Danes. He said: "It was a brilliant, unbelievable knock. It was his day, right from the start when he got off the mark with a six.
"The great thing about Amjad is he is not scared to go for his shots. No matter who the bowler is, he will go after them and if the ball is in his slot he can convert them into very big sixes." Javed, 28, has been a star in waiting for some time for the UAE. He has been one of the leading all-rounders in domestic cricket in recent years with his club side, Fly Emirates, but the hard-hitting right-hander had yet to transfer his form to the national stage
He has showed glimpses of his talent in the past, in particular when the Emirates secured their place at the Qualifier by winning the World Cricket League Division Two, where he hit a century against Argentina. His style was typified at the Asia Cup in Pakistan last summer when, playing his first official one-day international, against Bangladesh, he hit the first ball of the UAE innings for four. By the end of the first over, he was 10 not out, after launching Mashrafe Mortaza's final delivery for six.
The UAE play Afghanistan, who they beat in the ACC Trophy in Malaysia last year, today safe in the knowledge they have already made it to the next phase of the competition, the Super Eight, which starts on Saturday. But with the Afghans also likely to proceed with them, Khurram Khan's side are keen to secure crucial points to carry forward with them. @Email:pradley@thenational.ae
