UAE to resume quest for Twenty20 World Cup spot

Dubai: The UAE will resume their quest for a Twenty20 World Cup spot in the qualifiers to be held later this month in Oman.

“Emirates Cricket Board is very pleased that our men’s team can resume their journey towards the ICC T20 Men’s WC qualifier,” said Dr Tayeb Kamali, Selection Committee Chairman, Emirates Cricket Board. “We enjoy a proven, strong history in both 50-over and 20-over formats and we anticipate yet another exciting series of cricket. With the historic plate win in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, our young players have demonstrated the immense value of their preparation while continuing to take necessary precautions due to the pandemic.”

Emirates Cricket Board on Wednesday announced the teams that will compete in an intense 3-series campaign that will commence on February 5 with the schedule stretching through to February 24. During this time, the team will compete in the rescheduled CWC League 2 against Oman (February 5-8), a T20I Quadrangular series, which also involves Oman, Nepal and Ireland (February 11-14), and rounding out the campaign with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2022) Qualifier A (February 18-24).

While each series is of utmost importance in influencing UAE’s position on the ICC standings, where the team currently sit 15th on the T20I table and 17th in ODI, the pinnacle of their campaign is undoubtedly securing the win in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A and subsequently the spot to compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later this year. UAE have been drawn into Group B alongside Bahrain, Germany and Ireland.

UAE Under-19 skipper Alishan Sharafu is among the a host of players who will be turning out for the senior squad.

Speaking to Gulf News after UAE winning the Under-19 World Cup, head coach Robin Singh said: “It will send the right message to the senior cricketers in the set up. These young guys don’t walk into the senior team now, but that will be putting pressure on the others not to take their place for granted. It will create a lot of balance in the team and also create a bigger pool of players to choose from.”

UAE teams:

CWCL2: Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, Rizwaan CP, Vriitya Aravind, Muhammad Usman, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid.

T20 World Cup Qualifier A and T20I Quadrangular: Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, Alishan Sharafu, Vriitya Aravind, Muhammad Usman, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid.

Travelling reserves: Muhammad Boota and Alishan Sharafu (CWCL2); Muhammad Boota and Ali Naseer (T20 WCQ & Quadrangular series).

Support staff: Robin Singh (Head Coach), Karthik Rathinam (Manager), Azhar Qureshi (Trainer), Manish Pardeshi (Physio).

Schedule:

CWCL2 (ODI series):

February 5: UAE v Oman

February 6: UAE v Oman

February 8: UAE v Oman

T20I Quadrangular series:

February 11: UAE v Ireland

February 12: UAE v Nepal

February 14: UAE v Oman