Group match schedule
February 10th vs. New Zealand in Chennai
February 13th vs. Canada in Delhi
February 16th, against Afghanistan in Delhi
February 18th, match against South Africa in Delhi
The big picture: Can the UAE pull off a surprise?
united arab emirates I’m back to T20 World Cup It’s only the third time in their history. They missed the bus in 2024, but they definitely caught it Last slot in this edition And now they want to strain several full members in a 20-team tournament.
UAE have only won one of their six matches in the T20 World Cup and have never made it past the group stage. However, they have caused some upsets against big teams recently. They had a historic 2-1 series win against Bangladesh in May last year. desperately cornered Afghanistan He starred in the T20I tri-series and gave Pakistan a scare in the Asia Cup.
The UAE, who are in Group D with Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, could pull off an upset. They should fancy their chances against Canada, who have beaten Afghanistan in the past and have spinners who could trouble the likes of South Africa and New Zealand.
What UAE lacks is the experience of playing in big tournaments. Only three players from the 15-member squad have played in the 2022 T20 World Cup, and those three – Muhammad Waseem, Alishan Sharaf and Junaid Siddique – will have to lead the way.
recent forms
The UAE has become a blank slate. 2-0 Ireland Two consecutive matches were held in Dubai in the last week of January. Before that, they Asia and EAP Qualifiersfinished third in the Super Six table. Many UAE athletes also participated in ILT20, which was held from December to January.
Players to watch: Mohammad Waseem and Haider Ali
UAE captain Muhammad Waseem He is without a doubt the most important batter on their team and has shown incredible consistency in recent years. he is from UAE Highest scorer in T20I He scored 3,236 runs in 93 innings with a strike rate of 150.79. His record is almost double that of the next batsman, Sharaf, who scored 1671 runs in 61 innings. Waseem is Player with the second most points He also played well in ILT20 and achieved good results in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Spin could play a big role on the pitches in Delhi and Chennai. Haider Ali He has the potential to become a useful operator with his orthodox left arm. He played a key role in the UAE’s series win against Bangladesh last year and has been in great form over the past 12 months. From early 2025 onwardsHe has taken 33 wickets, the most among UAE bowlers with an average of 15.72 wickets and an excellent economy rate of 5.83. Haider also performed well in ILT20, taking 10 wickets in 11 matches and scoring less than one run per ball.
Last hurray?
fast bowler Junaid Siddique teeth UAE’s best wicket-taker 117 at 20.64 in T20Is. He is the only UAE bowler to cross the 100-wicket mark, but at 33 years old he may end up playing in his last World Cup. He has been a regular player for the UAE team since making his debut in 2019, leading the fast bowling unit for nearly seven years. This could be the last World Cup for the 36-year-old left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh In the same way.
best eleven
1 Arianshu Sharma (Week), 2 Muhammad Waseem (Capt), 3 Muhammad Zohaib, 4 Alishan Sharaf, 5 Harshit Kaushik, 6 Mayank Kumar, 7 Dhruv Parashar, 8 Muhammad Arfan, 9 Haider Ali, 10 Junaid Siddique, 11 Muhammad Javadullah
rest of the team: Muhammad Rohid, Simranjeet Singh, Sohaib Khan, Muhammad Farooq