Allow UAE to play more top teams and we will improve, says skipper Tauqir

UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir was speaking to the media after their loss against Zimbabwe — you can listen to the full press conference in the audio widget above and the full transcript below. Q. Your thoughts on the match. Let’s start with that. You guys did well, but a loss in the end. MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: Yeah, I think we tried our best, congratulations to Zimbabwe. They played better cricket. They had some good partnerships in the middle. I think we would have taken that wicket and it would have been different, but overall a decent performance. Q. Do you look at it as an opportunity missed or that there were quite a few positives to take out of it? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: Yeah, quite a few positives from the game. All the batters batted well, bowlers did a decent job. Yes, definitely an opportunity missed. I think it was a good game of cricket that went to the wire. Yeah, they won in the end. [caption id=“attachment_2109015” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mohd Tauqir ahead of the match against Zimbabwe. Getty Images[/caption] Q. Did you think that you left some runs out there in the field? Because quite a few of your batsmen got to 30, 35, 40, and were playing well, and then just they gave their wickets away? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: Yeah, I think I agree. I think at the top there should have been some bigger innings I think from 45 and a couple other players in 30s and 40s. I think one of them would have stayed another 25, 30 runs would have been different. Q. The fact that it went so close and it was close to the end, do you think it’s a fair reflection of how the two teams stack up? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: Yeah, I think it was an even-Steven game. I think we’re looking forward to playing positive, good cricket, and at the same time we want to enjoy this cricket also. So I think it was a good game of cricket today. Q. With your fielding, do you think you guys maybe let yourselves down a little bit on missed field goals and things like that? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: I don’t think there was any drop or any big missed fielding. Yeah, a couple of runs here and there. But I think we were better than Zimbabwe in fielding. Q. Also in terms of sort of the talk of the ICC tournament, fewer teams, do you think your performance today has made a really strong case why there should be more teams in the World Cup rather than fewer? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: Yeah, definitely. The more opportunity given to the associate nations and to play with the bigger teams I think it’s an improvement for their game. So definitely. I think for you to decide how well we played today. Q. The other area of concern would be that the fast bowlers, they bowled really well in the beginning, but gave away as many as 13 balls. Would that be something that how would you guys look into that? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: I think I need to go back and look at the stats. I haven’t noticed the stats, but I think a few extras here and there also. Yeah, the less extras the better for the team. But, yeah, I think overall medium pace bowled well. Q. You mentioned you wanted to play against the really good teams more and more often. Is it hard to improve when you don’t? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: I think when you play against them, you get a good exposure. It’s good for the improvement of the game at associate level also. If we play only at associate level, we cannot improve the game. So I think the more we play against the highest level and we can improve our cricket also. Q. Can I just ask about your personal performance? Were you satisfied with it? Were you a little bit nervous before? Because you haven’t played quite as much cricket in recent times? Did you catch the coin at the start of the toss? MOHAMMAD TAUQIR: No, I wasn’t ready for the coin. I was looking the other way, and he just flipped it, even in the match after we didn’t ask him to toss. No, I’ve been playing cricket with the team for the last eight or ten months. No nervousness at all. Whatever nervousness we had, it went off in the Australia game. So we’re fine. We’re pretty settled.