United Arab Emirates to Compete in ICC T20 World Cup under Muhammad Waseem

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) cricket team will kick off its campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup in Chennai, India, under the leadership of experienced opener and captain Muhammad Waseem. The team will depart from Dubai to Chennai on 1 February.

Placed in Group D, UAE will face Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. The team will play two warm-up matches in Chennai—against Nepal on 3 February and against Italy on 6 February. Their opening Group D match is scheduled against New Zealand on 10 February. Afterwards, the team will travel to Delhi for their remaining three matches: against Canada on 13 February, Afghanistan on 16 February, and South Africa on 18 February. The Super Eight stage will commence on 21 February.

Waseem has captained the UAE team for the past three years, leading the side in 66 out of his 92 T20I matches. Additionally, two players from UAE’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad—Alishan Sharafu and Junaid Siddique—are also part of this tournament’s squad.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Arafat, born in Bangladesh, has joined the team as the fast bowling coach. He will work with the UAE squad throughout the World Cup and in the preceding two-match T20I series against Ireland. Zimbabwe’s Stanley Chioza will serve as the team’s fielding coach.

United Arab Emirates Squad: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Mayank Kumar, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan, Simranjeet Singh.

Support Staff: Amjad Ezzi (team manager), Lalchand Rajput (head coach), Yasir Arafat (fast bowling coach), Stanley Chioza (fielding coach), Azharuddin Qureshi (strength & conditioning coach), Dr. Abhijeet Salvi (team doctor), Manipreet Sidhu (video analyst), Emmad Hameed (media manager), Manish Pardeshi (physiotherapist).

United Arab Emirates Group D Match Schedule:
    •    10 February, Chennai: New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates
    •    13 February, Delhi: Canada vs United Arab Emirates
    •    16 February, Delhi: Afghanistan vs United Arab Emirates
    •    18 February, Delhi: South Africa vs United Arab Emirates