No India-Pakistan divide in UAE camp: Captain Waseem

Skipper Muhammad Waseem has made it clear that in the UAE dressing room, passports are left at the door. 

Eight members of the UAE T20 World Cup squad are either born in Pakistan or have Pakistani roots, while eight others trace their heritage to India. In the backroom, veteran Indian coach Lalchand Rajput works alongside former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat. 

Yet despite political tensions spilling into cricket -- with Pakistan deciding to boycott their group match against India as of Monday -- Waseem insists none of that has filtered into his team. 

“In this team, there is no India or Pakistan (divide). We are all representing the UAE, and we are proud of it. We play together, we eat together, and we spend a lot of time together. There is nothing like India or Pakistan in our team,” Waseem said on the eve of their game against New Zealand. 

“We have come prepared and will look to win a few games,” he added. 

The UAE are daring to dream as they gear up for the start of their third T20 World Cup campaign on Tuesday. Their journey begins against New Zealand at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, in a group that also features South Africa, Afghanistan, and Canada. 

The odds are hardly friendly. The Gulf side have managed just one win across their previous two World Cup appearances and did not even qualify for the last edition. 

It is against that backdrop that the associate nation arrives in India with a squad shaped by the subcontinent. UAE are not alone. Oman, Canada, the USA and the Netherlands all feature players with Indian and Pakistani origins. In Canada and the Netherlands, many hold dual citizenship or that of their adopted country, while in the Middle East, they still carry the passports of where they were born.