NAPIER: United Arab Emirates captain Mohammed Tauqir found a positive in his team’s 129-run defeat against Pakistan at the World Cup on Wednesday -- his shining star Shaiman Anwar.

Shaiman, born in Sialkot before migrating to the Emirates, struck 62 in UAE’s 210-8 in reply to Pakistan’s 339-6.

Tauqir said Shaiman is nicknamed ‘Viv Richards’ after the West Indian great.

“I think he’s a brilliant batsman,” said Tauqir of Shaiman who had scores of 67, 106 and 35 in previous games. “He’s a very, very confident individual. I’m very, very happy for him. He’s doing very well for himself and the team. He’s such a confident individual that we call him Sir Viv in the dressing room.”

Shaiman became the highest run-getter in the tournament with 270, two ahead of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara’s 268 and West Indian Chris Gayle’s 258.

Meanwhile, Tauqir said his team’s fielding let them down against Pakistan.

“I think the fielding was below the mark, we dropped a few catches,” said Tauqir of crucial dropped chances off Pakistani opener Ahmed Shehzad on eight and 11.

Shehzad went on to score 93. “I think if we would have taken those catches the total would have been different,” said Tauqir.

The UAE captain defended his decision to put Pakistan into bat after winning the toss.

“I think we thought probably the wicket had a little bit of moisture and it was overcast, so we wanted to get them all out earlier and then chase the runs,” said Tauqir.

Published in Dawn March 5th , 2015

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