Arshad Ali refuses to believe he can break the record score he set in the opening match at the last ACC Trophy when the UAE start their title defence against Saudi Arabia in Kuala Lumpur today. Saudi Arabia are one of the lowest ranked sides in this edition of the ACC Trophy, which begins today and lasts until August 3, and should represent a comfortable start for the defending champions.
However, with the former Pakistan Test player Mansoor Akhtar as coach, the Saudis are likely to pose a far greater challenge to their neighbours than hapless Brunei managed in the last edition of the event. The UAE have won the last four editions of the ACC Trophy, which is the competition for the continent's top non-Test playing sides, and they proceeded to give a lesson to Brunei. The then captain Arshad was the star as he racked up a remorseless 213 not out, batting throughout the 50-overs as the UAE tallied a monumental 459-3 at Kinrara Oval.
Then they shot out their bemused opposition for just 92 to seal a crushing 367-run win, which is 77-runs better than the record winning margin in an official one-day international. Arshad's inning remains the highest ever by a UAE player, and he thinks it is unlikely to be broken any time soon. He said: "You can never set out to say you are going to score 200. It is very difficult, no matter what the standard of opposition is.
"When I played against Brunei, I had only scored around 20 runs from the first 15-overs, because the ball was moving around a lot early in the morning. "They may be a small team, but they had some good medium-pace bowlers from India who had settled in Brunei, and they were seaming the ball around a lot. "I had to be very watchful, but at the other end Mohammed Iqbal had smashed about 70 in the same time.
"Iqbal (who has been recalled to the current squad after a long spell out) is an exciting cricketer who goes for his shots every ball. "Sometimes it clicks, sometimes not - it is a very risky method. As soon as he got out I put the hammer down." The 2004 ACC Trophy represented a purple patch for the Sialkot-born Arshad, and established him as one of the most lethal batsmen in the Associate arena. He won the man-of-the-match award in the final win over Hong Kong - surprisingly for his leg-spin bowling - and was the player of the tournament.
Now he needs 78 more runs to be the first player to reach 1,000 in ACC Trophy competitions, after he played in the UAE's wins in 2002, 2004 and 2006. "There are lots of other good sides in the ACC Trophy this time," said Arshad. "Afghanistan (who the Emirates play in their second group match tomorrow) are the best of the other sides out here. "Hong Kong also showed against Pakistan in the Asia Cup that they can play good cricket as well, and Nepal could beat anyone on their day as well."
However, Arshad is still confident of adding a fourth winner's medal to his collection. He added: "I think we are still the best side, and now we have a very good mix of senior and junior players as well. "Young guys like Rameez Shahzad (who misses the first two matches while he completes his university exams) really complement the senior players well." The UAE play group matches against Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Bahrain and the hosts Malaysia. If successful, they face a semi-final on Friday Aug 1 and a potential final two days later at the Kinrara Oval, which staged the 2006 Tri Series between Australia, India and the West Indies.
@Email:pradley@thenational.ae
