UAE spinner Simranjeet, head coach Lalchand speak on team’s collective ambition: More fixtures against Test teams to “raise their level”

New Delhi [India], February 16 (ANI): Ahead of their ICC T20 World Cup clash against Afghanistan in Delhi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) spinner Simranjeet Singh and head coach Lalchand Rajput spoke on team's aspirations to play against more Test playing nations on regular basis, rise of associate nations in this T20 World Cup and their mindset in the ongoing tournament where they are involved in a Super Eight tussle with South Africa.
UAE and 2024 semifinalists Afghanistan will be locking horns at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. While Afghanistan is already down and out with two losses in two games, UAE sits at third spot in Group D with a win and a loss. With South Africa's hat-trick of wins confirming their Super Eight spot more or less, it is upto UAE to win their next two games against Afghanistan and South Africa to get that confidence-boosting Super Eight spot. Even if they do not qualify for Super Eight and get one more win from here, they would be able to walk out with their heads held high.
Speaking to ANI ahead of their side's Afghanistan clash, Simranjeet said that the previous win against Canada by five wickets was a "morale booster" for the team, but the focus stays just on playing good cricket and their next challenge, Afghanistan, who have seen their fortunes slump in their shorter format after the highs of T20 WC 2024 semifinal finish.
"We won our last match against Canada convincingly, which is a morale boost for the entire team, and we'll do our best. Right now, our entire focus is on the next match against Afghanistan, and proper preparation is underway. We are fully confident that, whatever plans our coach, Lalchand Rajput, gives us, we will execute them and try to win," he said.

"We are totally focusing on the next match and what are our plans would be. Right now, winning or losing is not that important to us. We are just trying to play good cricket. If it is our day, we will definitely win," he added.
Simranjeet, having played 16 T20Is for UAE and taken 19 scalps at an average of 16.05, with a four-fer to his name, is well aware of the benefits the International League T20 (ILT20), backed by Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) offers to their players, in form of the associate team, particularly UAE players getting to share the changing room with top international-level stars, honing their craft with them and applying it in big tournaments.
"Franchise cricket does have a lot of benefits. In India, since the IPL started, many players have developed well. The same is happening in UAE cricket as well. When boys play alongside top Test players, they learn a great deal. We are coming here and applying those same things... Cricket in the UAE is improving day by day," he said.
The spinner also warned against taking associate teams lightly, saying "associate nations halki nahi hai".
"A lot of people used to think that associate nations are not very great, but associate teams halki nahi hai (they are not to be taken lightly) and are playing some good cricket. The morale amongst them is high. These teams have learnt a lot from Test-playing cricketers and this application is visible among players in the tournament," he added.
Simranjeet, who once bowled in the nets to current Indian Test, ODI captain Shubman Gill in nets when he was a kid, shifted his base to UAE during COVID-19 lockdown. He aspires to have his team play his home nation someday and "raise their level".
"Yes we would like to as till we do not play them, we would not get to know what that level of cricket is like. If given a chance, everyone would love to play, it would raise our level," he said.
Also, the head coach Lalchand seems to agree with Simranjeet, saying that his side would like to play Test playing nations, particularly India. Having appointed as UAE's head coach back in 2024, Lalchand was also associated with Afghanistan in 2016-17, when they were an associate team dreaming to play Test cricket, having earned the Test status in 2017 and playing its first Test against India in 2018.
"We would definitely like that (playing against big Test teams, including India). Otherwise, when will our players get to play against India? So, every associate country wants to play against test-playing countries," said Lalchand to ANI.

He also hailed the International Cricket Council (ICC) move to make T20 WC a 20-team tournament, giving associate teams a platform to showcase their performances and talent. Lalchand noted that the work ethic amongst the team is good and is optimistic of their chance to play Test playing nations more often outside of World Cups/Asia Cup.
"I think this is a good platform. The ICC also wants to promote associate countries. And in the future, you never know, we might play a series against a good test-playing country," he said.
"If you want to go up, you have to work hard. So, our work ethic is good. The players want us to perform well. So, we want to play against good test-playing countries. You might not know, but I was associated with Afghanistan. That was also an associate team. But we gave it a test status. And now, look where Afghanistan is," he added.
But for now, the Afghanistan clash occupies his mind above everything else, the dream of playing more Test nations or qualifying for Super Eights, hoping to carry the momentum of the win over Canada.
"We will take one match at a time. You do not think too much ahead in cricket. One has to be positive in one match. If we win the match against Afghanistan, we can take that confidence and momentum to the next match," he said.
The head coach feels it would be a big move to have two or three wins under their belt in this World Cup, with the road to Super Eight becoming easier when they win their remaining matches. In the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cup editions, UAE have finished at the bottom, with their win against Namibia in 2022 edition being their first-ever win in T20 WC.
"I think it would be big for us to go out with two or three wins, it is really a big thing when you are coming up and win two or three matches in a World Cup. But currently, we focus on Afghanistan. After that, we will think of what to do in the fourth match (against South Africa)," he added.
Having once managed Team India led by MS Dhoni, which won the inaugural T20 World Cup, Lalchand also pointed out the difference between managing players of Test nations and associate teams, saying that lack of matches for the latter against bigger teams means lesser game awareness and more pressure on them when they are thrown straight into a World Cup challenge.
"Test-playing countries are definitely very good because they have been playing for so long. In associate countries, they do not play much matches. Because they play among associate countries. When test-playing countries come, they come under pressure. So, the more they play matches, the better their temperament will be. Their match awareness will be better," he added.
He said that challenge as a head coach of an associate nation is to make players more aware, being able to adapt to different conditions and formats and expressed that UAE is "slowly crossing these challenges".
Squads:

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan(c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahidullah Kamal, Mohammad Ishaq, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Abdullah Ahmadzai

United Arab Emirates Squad: Aryansh Sharma(w), Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Dhruv Parashar, Syed Haider. (ANI)