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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

March 3, 2015

Amjad Javed

NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND

Q. The UAE team has been playing well in this World Cup while Pakistan have been pretty shaky. Do you think UAE have a pretty good chance of posing an upset tomorrow?
AMJAD JAVED: Yeah, if you see our first two games, we almost upset Ireland and Zimbabwe, so definitely, yes. We are here to upset some good teams, yeah.

Q. Obviously it's been quite tough for you from the previous match that you played against India. What have you learnt from that game?
AMJAD JAVED: Definitely every defeat makes you learn. Every defeat makes you learn something, so we went back and we planned our next game, and we'll see that our batting doesn't collapse again against Pakistan, so we'll play well.

Q. And it has been a long journey from Perth over to here. Is that difficult to adjust to the time difference and the length from playing so recently?
AMJAD JAVED: I think every team is now traveling. It's not UAE. Every team is traveling. Pakistan came yesterday and we came the day before them, so every team is traveling. If you are playing international cricket, then you have to get used to this condition and timing, as well.

Q. Nine of the 15 UAE players are Pakistani nationals including yourself. Will this game mean any more than the other matches to you guys?
AMJAD JAVED: I think we are representing as the UAE, so it doesn't matter like if you are Pakistani playing against Pakistan. We will play as UAE, so we will give 100 percent against them.

Q. How do you think UAE will benefit from participating in this World Cup?
AMJAD JAVED: It's not like one big tournament. You have to keep on playing with some big teams after this World Cup, as well. But this World Cup will give teams, associate teams more exposure. As you have seen, associate teams are performing well: Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, the UAE, they all are playing well, so definitely this will give them a boost, and after this tournament the ICC might give them some more games against big teams.

Q. One of your coaches is very well known back in England, and that is Paul Franks. How has he been around the team because he's quite a character.
AMJAD JAVED: Yeah, he is very good. It's good to have a coach like him with the team. He's giving his experience to the boys, sharing, and we're having a good time with him.

Q. Does he keep you laughing in the changing room?
AMJAD JAVED: Yeah, he's a good character, yeah. He's always joking.

Q. You must have seen Irfan bowl against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Are your batsmen prepared to face him?
AMJAD JAVED: Irfan, if you don't know, Irfan played in Dubai seven years back.

Q. But this is New Zealand, anything about the particular conditions?
AMJAD JAVED: Yeah, if you are facing him in a domestic game in Dubai, I think in Abu Dhabi stadium, so it's okay. If you haven't faced any bowler, if we haven't faced Dale Steyn, then that makes a difference --

Q. So your batsmen aren't scared?
AMJAD JAVED: Yeah, no, no, they are not scared. They are well prepared, and still they are preparing. Our batting coach Mudassar is working very hard on them, so inshallah, we'll do well.

Q. The three matches that you have played and the warm-up matches before that, what would you say has been the highlights for UAE so far? What has pleased the team as a whole unit? What has pleased your team the most of what you guys have done so far?
AMJAD JAVED: I think apart from the game against India, the last three games which we played, including the warm-up, the fans enjoyed. The expectations that they came to watch a good game, they enjoyed, and that's a big motivation for us, that we are pulling some crowd, and the crowd is supporting UAE now.

Q. Cricket-wise what has pleased you guys the most?
AMJAD JAVED: The performance. If you see, batting first in these conditions, I think we are the first associate who is scoring 270-plus runs in all these three games apart from India and Australia. We batted and we scored 270-plus runs. That is a plus point for us.
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