Wednesday 4 March 2015 16:09, UK
Reckon you know who is the leading World Cup run-scorer so far?
It must be Chris Gayle after that double-hundred? Or AB de Villiers’ following his record-fastest 150? Then there’s Kumar Sangakkara, for his back-to-back hundreds, right?
Wrong - it’s Shaiman Anwar.
‘Who?’ might understandably be the response as Anwar plays for the as yet winless United Arab Emirates and has scored only one hundred – 106 against Ireland – good enough for 17th spot in the list of the tournament’s highest scores.
Reserved a special nickname in the UAE dressing-room, Anwar has top-scored in each of their four World Cup games with two fifties to go with that hundred – including one in their latest game against Pakistan – in amassing 270 runs.
“He's a brilliant batsman,” said his captain, Mohammad Tauqir. “He's a very confident individual and I'm 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."
Anwar – who was born in Pakistan before migrating to the UAE – got his nickname due to a reputation as a six-hitter in domestic cricket, but he initially modelled his technique on Rahul Dravid when playing backyard and street cricket in Sialkot.
He played for them in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, as well as other domestic Pakistani tournaments but after accepting an offer of employment in the UAE in 2007, he played club cricket for Consolidated Shipping Services where he worked.
His success for them led to a debut ODI cap in early 2014 and a call-up to the UAE’s World Cup squad where he has shone with scores of 67 (v Zimbabwe), 106 (v Ireland), 35 (v India) and 62 (v Pakistan).
Tauqir hopes that while Anwar was not born in the UAE, his performances can help the next generation of cricket stars from the region.
“I believe our presence in the World Cup definitely will inspire many more Emirates to follow the game,” said Tauqir. “Added to the kind of infrastructure and facilities we have, it's growing among the Emirate population.”
While Anwar has impressed, the UAE have lost all four of their World Cup games, and have only South Africa and West Indies – on Sunday 15th March, Anwar’s 36th birthday – still to play.
South Africa are coming off the back of two 400-plus totals but Tauqir has some unique captaincy plans to combat that total being scored against them.
“We’ve had a couple of close games against Zimbabwe and Ireland,” said Tauqir. “And batting 50 overs against Pakistan is a big positive for the team.
“Our effort is to do well against the Test nations and put up a decent performance.
“We will be putting in a lot of effort against South Africa. We need to bowl well, field well, to restrict them the way they are going, scoring 400 runs against West Indies and Ireland.
“It seems the only way they cannot score 400 runs is if we win the toss and bat.”
