Skipper Raza hopes Robin Singh brings winning mentality to UAE as Ireland series awaits
KOCHI: United Arab Emirates is all set to start the new year with a bilateral series against Ireland in a four-match ODI series that starts on Friday in Abu Dhabi.
With former Indian cricketer Robin Singh being their head coach, UAE hope to fulfil their dreams of qualifying for future ICC cricket tournaments and they consider this series against Ireland as a step in that direction.
"He (Robin) is our head coach and he spends a lot of time (working) with us. He brings a wealth of knowledge with him and looking at his trophy cabinet, there's hardly anything that he hasn't won. That is really nice. He is a very hard working man and he expects the same from all of us," said UAE captain Ahmed Raza during a virtual interaction on Wednesday, ahead of the series.
The 32-year-old went on to add that Singh can bring a winning mentality to the side.
"He just won another IPL title with the Mumbai Indians and hopefully he can do the same with this UAE team in this series," said Raza.
They will go up against an Ireland side who are looking to put on a confident show. After the series against UAE, they will take on Afghanistan.
"We've got quite a good and exciting young squad and we are looking to play some ODI cricket. We didn't get a lot of cricket last year, but we also got more cricket than other teams and so we are fortunate there.
It's a lot of cricket packed into, kind of a small period, particularly not having played a lot of cricket," said Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie.
The Irish skipper also suggested that the players were keen to give a good account of themselves and help Ireland cricket, which in turn would open up other opportunities for their players, like the chance to play in the Indian Premier League.
"It would be massive because it's the best T20 league in the world with the best players. For any of us to experience that, just talking to the best players and the best coaches in the world and the exposure that it gives you. I've no doubt that we'd bite your hand off to get a chance to play in the IPL. But to get that opportunity, we've got to put in the performances for Ireland and put in performances like we did against England on a regular basis," he said.
Meanwhile, Kevin O'Brien who played an integral part in the successful run-chase against England in the third ODI against England in August, is excited to play international cricket again.
"It's another very good opportunity for me and all the other guys to come out here and play against two (UAE and Afghanistan) very good sides. It's a bit of a learning curve for our squad and something that I'm really looking forward to," said O'Brien.
The four match ODI series between UAE and Ireland will be LIVE in India on Eurosport and Eurosport HD starting January 8, 2021.