Sharjah, Feb 27 (PTI) The UAE cricket team largely comprises players from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it's the dressing room camaraderie between these men that has propelled the side to the Asia Cup, feels head coach Lalchand Rajput.

Some of these UAE players served as net bowlers for teams playing their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, having a go at the likes of Rohit Shsrma and Virat Kolhli.

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"It's good that we have qualified for Asia Cup, that will be a good opportunity for our players to play against India and Pakistan, big teams that will give a lot of confidence to the players as well.

"Now we are in the last stage of the T20 World Cup qualifiers. We have topped our group and now we will try and qualify for the T20 World Cup as well," Rajput told PTI after his team's four-hour practice session at Sharjah Cricket Ground.

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A 35-member core probable group is training in Sharjah as the ICC Academy in Dubai, where they normally practice, has been allotted to teams playing in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

"See we have a mixture of Pakistanis and Indians and the main thing is that the dressing room atmosphere is very good, we are playing as one unit, everybody is happy for each other's performance, that's very good and the camaraderie is excellent.

"When a team does well, I think the dressing room atmosphere should be very good and I am sure this is the area where we focus on and if you look at our team, I think that is the main USP," the former India player observed.

Back home, these players have represented their state teams at U-16 and U-19 levels to gain some experience before arriving in this country.

"Somebody has played first-class cricket also, so it's good to see that they have got the experience and they carry forward their experience with the UAE team," he pointed out.

Rajput emphasised on exposure and said they are now also focusing on the longer formats of the game.

"Exposure is very important, and that's why I have introduced red-ball cricket because we want to play 90 overs, like a longer version because our second focus is 50 overs qualifier.

"So we started to build now only because we have to play 21 matches, and in 21 matches, I think we have to try and make sure that we win most of the games," he said.

"The focus is on batsmen playing long innings, for bowlers to bowl 10 overs. We are playing with SG ball which seams a little more, the batsmen can try and play or focus more on the swing as well and since we are going to Netherlands for the World Cup Qualifier League 2, I think this is the best preparation we can do."

Rajput has lauded the role of ICC in the development of cricket in these regions.

"I think we have got every support from them, that's why cricket is big here, if you look at it, we are getting a lot of matches which have been played in Dubai as well.

"I think cricket has been improving so much here because of the ICC as well. ICC's headquarter is also in Dubai, so it's a natural advantage for you."

Speaking of the most talented players in his group, Rajput picked Rahul Chopra, Mohammad Wasim, Tanvi Suri, Junaid Siddique, Javedullah, Simranjeet, and Ayaan Khan.

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