New Delhi, February 17 The United Arab Emirates' journey in this T20 World Cup has been "good," as they have improved with each game, proving to everyone that they are capable of exceeding expectations, head coach Lalchand Rajput said ahead of the team's final T20 World Cup group league game against the formidable South Africa here on Wednesday.
While New Zealand thrashed the UAE by 10 wickets in the tournament opener, Rajput's team beat Canada by five wickets and also stretched Afghanistan to the final over before losing by five wickets.
"Overall, if you look at the UAE, I think our journey has been good so far. Yes, in the first game, our bowling unit didn't perform well, but our batting unit did. In the last two games, we really proved that we are a better team than what was expected of us after the first game," the UAE head coach said ahead of their last game in the tournament.
"If you look at the associate countries, I think they don't play many matches. So they don't get much time to play against the best players in the world.
"I think this was a great opportunity for them. And they need to take advantage of it. And once you start winning games, I think that confidence level goes up, and they even play even better.
"So I think this World Cup will give us a lot of confidence, a lot of confidence for the players, and self-belief that they can do it. And we are just hoping that we continue to do so."
He was full of praise for Sohaib Khan, the Gaya-born batter, who had scored back-to-back half-centuries in the tournament.
"I think he (Sohaib) is a player who has been a revelation in the middle order. He came into the team with his performances in local cricket. We saw him in local cricket and called him for the intra-national camp matches.
"He really batted well, and he got the opportunity to play in the T20 World Cup, and he hasn't looked back. Before this, we took him to the Emerging Cup in Doha, where he scored 60 against India. And I think he's mentally strong, and he plays fearless cricket," Rajput said.
"To be honest, Sohaib backs his skills, and the way he's been batting is fantastic. He scored back-to-back fifties, and in one game, he really won it for us. We could have almost won the game (against Afghanistan) yesterday as well.
"So it's a good platform for him to showcase his talent. And I'm sure he just needs to go higher. He can't go down now. And I'm sure he knows that. And it's a good thing for UAE cricket that we have a batsman who can bat in the middle order."
