(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) National Development Manager Andrew Russell felt that the UAE Under-19 team were in a great frame of mind going into the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-19 Western Region Tournament and said that it was a great opportunity to play in their backyard.
The UAE colts will compete in the eight-team tournament, which acts as the qualifiers for the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup, to be held in Sri Lanka in July and August.
The UAE lads are on a high after qualifying for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in South Africa in January and February next year. They won all five matches in the ICC Asia Division 1 qualifiers held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier this month.
"I think it is a great time to go into a tournament like this, especially after the boys did so well at the Under-19 World Cup qualifiers," Russell told the Khaleej Times on Thursday.
"The boys have had good preparations during the qualifiers and it is a great opportunity for us to play a home series," he added.
They might be oozing confidence but Russell, who was appointed to the role in 2014, warned that the boys shouldn't get ahead of themselves and must treat it match by match.
"The confidence is high after the showing in the qualifiers. But we have to make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves and get over confident. We should not over think too much about qualification and should take it one game at a time," said the South African.
Russell also revealed that Aryan Lakra, who captained the team quite admirably in the World Cup qualifiers in Malaysia and was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, was back as captain.
The ECB had initially named Fahad Choudhry as the skipper on Wednesday but there was some miscommunication with regard to age.
"There was so miscommunication regarding the age cut-off and Aryan Lakra is back as captain. Fahad was the captain before," he said.
Russell reckoned Kuwait and Oman would present strong opposition during the tournament. "I think the big challenge would be Kuwait and Oman. They played in the World Cup qualifiers with us," felt Russell.
The winners of the Western Region and the top two nations from the ACC Under-19 Eastern Region Tournament will join India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Eastern Region consists of Nepal, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Bhutan, China and Myanmar.
GROUPINGS:
Group A: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iran.
Group B: Oman, Qatar, Maldives, Kuwait.
SCHEDULE:
April 26:
UAE vs Saudi Arabia, Dubai International Stadium
Oman vs Qatar, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Bahrain vs Iran, Eden Garden (Ajman)
Maldives vs Kuwait, The Sevens
April 27:
Saudi Arabia vs Iran, Dubai International Stadium
Qatar vs Kuwait, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Oman vs Maldives, Eden Garden (Ajman)
UAE vs Bahrain, The Sevens
April 28: Rest Day
April 29: UAE vs Iran, Dubai International Stadium
Saudi Arabia vs Bahrain, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Oman vs Kuwait, Eden Garden (Ajman)
Qatar vs Maldives, ICC Academy
April 30: Rest Day
May 1:
Semifinal 1: 1st in Group A vs 2nd in Group B, Dubai International Stadium
Semifinal 2: 2 nd Group A vs 1 st Group B, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
May 2: Rest Day
May 3:
Final: Winners of Semifinal 1 vs Winners of Semifinal 2, Dubai International Stadium
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