Tauqir lavishes praise on UAE’s ‘Sir Viv’

NAPIER, New Zealand: They call him Sir Viv and with due reason. Talented Sialkot-born batsman Shaiman Anwar has emerged as the surprise package of the tournament as he hit another superb fifty to take the top place on the top of the table of World Cup’s highest scorers.
“He (Shaiman) is a confident character and a brilliant batsman,” UAE captain Mohamed Tauqir said after his team lost its Pool B encounter against Pakistan by 129 runs here at the McLean Park on Wednesday.
But Tauqir described his team’s performance as ‘decent’, stressing that playing out the full 50 overs against a top Test-playing team was an achievement for the minnows.
“It was a decent effort from our team. We fielded first considering that there was moisture in the wicket and the conditions were overcast. We could have done better but our fielding wasn’t up to the mark and we dropped few catches,” said Tauqir.
“340 was too big a total for us but we decided that instead of going after it and getting out in 300 overs we should try to play the full 50 overs.”
Tauqir, an Emarati, hoped that UAE’s presence in the World Cup will inspire the local population of his country to take up cricket.
“Cricket is an expat-dominated sport in UAE but I think that our presence in the World Cu will inspire more Emaratis to take up this sport,” he said.
Tauqir hailed the role played in uplifting the standard of his team by two Pakistani coaches – Aqib Javed and Mudassar Nazar.
“They are putting in a lot of effort and our team is improving,” he said.
Tauqir is hoping for another ‘decent’ show in UAE’s next match against a ruthless South African team. “Our target will be to bowl and field well and don’t allow South Africa to score big.”