New Delhi: UAE’s star batsman Mohammad Wasim has been appointed captain of the United Arab Emirates team for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The tournament is set to begin on February 7, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The UAE squad includes three players who featured in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Along with Wasim, who will lead the side and has captained the team in 66 international matches, Alishan Sharafu and Junaid Siddiqui are also part of the lineup.
Former Indian cricketer Lalchand Rajput serves as the team’s head coach. The support staff includes former Pakistani fast bowler Yasir Arafat as the fast bowling coach. Arafat represented Pakistan in 72 international matches and has coached several national teams and franchise sides. He will be with the UAE team during the Ireland series and throughout the T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe’s Stanley Chioza will handle fielding coaching duties.
UAE secured their spot in the tournament by defeating Japan in the Super Six stage of the Asia and East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers held in Oman last year. This will be UAE’s third appearance in the T20 World Cup, having previously played in 2014 and 2022, but the team has not progressed beyond the group stage in either edition.
Placed in Group D, UAE will play their opening match against New Zealand on February 10. Subsequent matches will take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi against Canada (February 13), Afghanistan (February 16), and South Africa (February 18).
Before the World Cup, UAE is engaged in a two-match T20 series against Ireland. Following this, the team will participate in warm-up matches against Nepal and Italy on February 3 and 6 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
UAE Squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Mohammad Wasim (Captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (Wicketkeeper), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddiqui, Mayank Kumar, Mohammad Arfan, Mohammad Farooq, Mohammad Jawadullah, Mohammad Johaib, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan, Simranjeet Singh.
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