Khurram set to realise dream in MCG match

Playing Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday will be the realisation of a long-held dream for United Arab Emirates vice-captain Khurram Khan.

The 43-year-old all-rounder, who is also a flight purser for an international airline, used to look longingly at the famous ground when staying in Melbourne between flights but refused to enter the gates.

"It's a huge moment for me," Khan said today.

"For my work commitments I used to come to Melbourne all the time and I used to stay across the road.

"But I never went into the stadium because I wanted to play there. I always thought if I was going to go into the stadium, I should be playing there."

Khan, like the rest of his UAE teammates, combines a full-time job with his national cricket commitments.

"It's a massive commitment, to be honest," he said.

"We wake up in the morning like any other and go to the office, from let's say 9-5, finish the job then head towards the stadium.

"Some of us have to drive 100km to reach the ground where we practice for three or four hours a day, four or five times a week, then we have to drive back home and its midnight when we get home."

One player in the UAE squad will be looking to renew acquaintances with his Australian friends during the match – wicketkeeper Saqlain Haider, who stood in for Brad Haddin for a day on the Australian's VB Tour of the UAE against a Pakistani XI.

Haider, a bank teller, showed off his bruised hands after a day keeping wicket to Mitchells Johnson and Starc in Sharjah and impressed with a sharp catch off Nathan Lyon's spin.

Haider keeping during Australia's UAE warm-up match in Sharjah

Quick Single: Haider keeping a unique souvenir

But the hard work is reaping rewards for the UAE, who are playing in their first World Cup since 1996.

"It's really hard but I think in the last year or two we've been working really hard and it's been paying off," Khan said.

The UAE's first warm-up assignment does not get any tougher than the top-ranked ODI team in the world on their home soil in their biggest stadium, but Khan said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"It's good. I don't think it's going to get harder than this, so we're starting at the top," he said.

UAE coach Aaqib Javed – a member of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup winning team – said his side was eager to make an impact.

"We've been doing well at Associate level but this is the next stage," Javed said.

"I think we can push really hard. Our realistic goal is to strike twice.

"Striking twice, that doesn't mean the lowest ranked teams like Zimbabwe or Ireland, we are here to play some hard cricket and work really hard."

The UAE play in Pool B alongside India, South Africa, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, West Indies and Ireland.

They play Afghanistan in a second warm-up game at Melbourne's Junction Road Oval on Friday before their first Cup game on February 19 in Nelson.