Muhammad Waseem to lead UAE squad in Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series

sport — Skipper Mohamed Waseem will continue to be the backbone of the UAE team in the qualifiers. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: Skipper Muhammad Waseem, fresh from a triumphant DP World ILT20 Season 2 campaign with MI Emirates, will be the eager to continue his impressive form as he leads a 15-member UAE squad in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series, which also features Canada and Scotland.

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Waseem clinched the Blue Belt for the best UAE player for the second successive year, after scoring 321 runs in 12 matches. He will be leading a team that is a mix of talented youth, who have made their mark on the top stage and some experienced veterans to guide them.

The squad includes four youngsters Muhammad Zuhaib, Omid Rahman, Rahul and Tanish Suri, who have all earned their maiden call-ups in the national squad for the 50-over contests. While Alishan Sharafu and Sanchit Sharma return to the ODI squad.

Eight-team league

The top four teams from League 2 will make it to the ICC World Cup Qualifier. They will be joined in the Qualifier by four teams coming through the Qualifier Play-Offs as well as teams that don’t qualify automatically based on ICC ODI Rankings.

Eight teams including Canada, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE and USA were placed in the World Cup League 2 and the Qualifier Play-Offs, based on the previous World Cup Qualification cycle.

In the Dubai tri-series, the three teams will play each other twice in the 11-day long event. UAE will take on Canada in their series opener on Wednesday, while the hosts’ second match will be against Scotland on Sunday. UAE will take on Canada in the second fixture of the series on Tuesday, while the hosts will play Scotland in the last fixture of the series on March 9.

The tri-series is new head coach Lalchand Rajput’s first assignment with the UAE men’s national team.

UAE squad:

Muhammad Waseem (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Zuhaib, Omid Rahman, Rahul, Rahul Bhatia, Raja Akif, Sanchit Sharma, Tanish Suri, Vriitya Aravind and Zahoor Khan.