ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 trophy comes to the UAE

Dubai: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 trophy returned to Dubai today after having embarked on a world tour, which started at the ICC headquarters in the city on July 3.

The trophy has so far visited India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. It is scheduled to travel next to the West Indies from here.

The trophy was received at the ICC Cricket Academy by UAE coach and member of the 1992 Cricket World Cup winning Pakistan squad, Aqib Javed.

"This trophy holds a special place in every cricketer's heart. It is the biggest prize in international cricket. The UAE will be playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time since 1996 and we are confident of putting in a performance that will make our fans proud," said Javed.

The UAE team recently returned from a tour of Australia, as part of an initiative of the ICC High Performance Programme, aimed at providing the four qualifying associate teams -- Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland and the UAE -- valuable match experience ahead of the tournament across host nations Australia and New Zealand.

World Cricket's biggest extravaganza gets underway on February 14 in Christchurch and Melbourne, with the final to be played in Melbourne on March 29.