The United Arab Emirates: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) bowling coach Yasir Arafat said his six-wicket defeat to South Africa will serve as a valuable education and good learning experience for a side unaccustomed to facing elite pace attacks and under overcast skies. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday, the UAE never had momentum after a brisk power-play and made 122/6 on a tacky pitch, which South Africa chased down in 13.2 overs.
"South Africa's bowling attack, as you all know, is heavily reliant on their fast bowlers, and that's what they did. They went with four fast bowlers. For our boys, it was a new experience. They have never played against such fast bowling in such a big event.
"This is a learning experience for our batsmen, because as a collective, we didn't give as good a performance as we should have. But in every match, someone took responsibility. If 2-3 boys take responsibility in every match in the T20 format, then a good score can be made. So, these are the learnings we tell our players. As a collective, if we have 3-4 boys in the batting unit, we tell them to do the same in bowling as well,” said Arafat in the post-match press conference.
Arafat, who was part of Pakistan's squad during the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, where they finished as runners-up to India, also dismissed weather conditions as a significant factor in the defeat, though overcast skies and overnight rain led to moisture and dampness in the pitch.
"There is definitely a difference, whenever there are overcast conditions – like we had planned that if we had won the toss, we would have bowled first. Unfortunately, we lost the toss. But I don't think it made a big difference because the ball was coming straight. Normally, the ball gets wet. The ball wasn't even getting wet. So, it didn't make a big difference because of the rains," he said.
Drawing on his vast experience in the shortest format as a player and coach, Arafat reflected on how dramatically T20 cricket has shifted since its earliest days, where a once defendable total has been rendered almost obsolete by modern batting firepower.
"T20 has changed a lot, especially because of the leagues that are happening around the world. Obviously, it is more batting-friendly and more favourable for the crowd. The boundaries are smaller. The rules are such that there is a very low margin for the bowlers to be saved.
“I can only wish my bowlers luck -- nothing else. In 2007, if you see the cricket of that time, then 130-140 was the defendable target. So, in today's cricket, even if you do 180-190-200, sometimes it becomes difficult to defend for you," he said.
He further agreed with the notion that raw speed has given way to variations and deception as the preferred currency of modern fast bowlers. "If you see in today's cricket, in Test cricket and one-dayers, you rarely find bowlers above 90 miles per hour. The reason is that when you train yourself for shorter formats and for variations, which is a key factor for a brilliant pacer.
“In the past, we used to have express fast bowlers. But because of the fast-paced nature of cricket, many injuries also occur, because of which upcoming bowlers now prefer going towards variations and shorter formats. So you are completely right that now we don't see those fast bowlers like before," he said.
Despite the UAE finishing with one win from four games, Arafat was broadly optimistic about the future pool of fast bowlers coming from the Gulf nation. "They are good bowlers, and the best thing about UAE cricket is that if you see in the world, or in Asia, India, Sri Lanka -- there is cricket played for all 365 days.
“If you go to other countries, they move to indoor cricket. I think there are some boys who play for more than 365 days – they play 2 matches in a day -- so this is a very positive thing that the entire year, they play cricket.
“Then many of them are expats, they are slightly immature, so we are trying this only – I am there, Lalu (Lalchand Rajput, head coach) sir is also – we will try to share whatever our experience that we can in this little time that we have," he said.
On the tournament's broader picture, Arafat singled out India and Pakistan as strong contenders owing to their balanced spin attacks, while noting that Australia's early exit had surprised many observers. He identified all-around balance across pace, spin, and batting as the defining quality that would likely produce the next world champion.
“Then many of them are expats, they are slightly immature, so we are trying this only – I am there, Lalu (Lalchand Rajput, head coach) sir is also – we will try to share whatever our experience that we can in this little time that we have," he said.
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“Pakistan is playing in Sri Lanka, and their spin attack is very balanced. Sri Lanka is playing in their own country. Their teams are good, but if you look at other countries, like fast bowling, which we talked about earlier, some teams have strong fast bowling. So if teams are balanced in all three aspects, it will be good for them. They have chances to win the World Cup.”