The United Arab Emirates has made several changes to its squad from their last T20 outing, ahead of the upcoming series against Bangladesh.
UAE has named a much-changed squad for the two-match T20I series against Bangladesh, including five uncapped players who are awaiting their debut.
On Thursday, the Emirates Cricket Board announced a 15-member squad led by Mohammad Waseem for the series. The matches will be held on May 17 and 19 in Sharjah.
This will be UAE’s return to T20Is after a five-month break. Their last appearance in the format was during the Gulf T20 Championship in December, where they emerged champions by defeating Kuwait in the final.
UAE had a 22-player squad during that tournament, but 12 of those players have been dropped for the Bangladesh series.
Among the notable omissions are Vritiya Aravind, Basil Hameed, and Junaid Siddique. Aravind, 22, is the second-highest run-scorer for UAE in T20Is with 1,052 runs. Leg-spinner Junaid holds the national record for most T20I wickets with 96, and he has played the most matches (71). Basil, with 61 matches, ranks third in appearances.
Notably, Aravind and Basil did not feature in the Gulf T20 Championship, while Junaid was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps.
Among the new faces in the squad are left-arm spinner Haider Ali and right-arm pacers Saghir Khan and Mohammad Zohaib—all three are yet to play international cricket.
Ethan D’Souza and Matiullah Khan, both awaiting their T20I debuts, have also been included. Ethan, a 19-year-old left-handed batter, has played three ODIs. Matiullah, a 32-year-old right-arm pacer, played his only ODI back in March 2023.
Veteran players such as captain Mohammad Waseem remain in the squad. Since his debut in 2021, Waseem has scored 2,515 runs in international T20s—more than any other UAE player.
The squad also features experienced names like Asif Khan (40 T20Is), left-arm pacer Mohammad Jawadullah (31 T20Is), and current ODI captain Rahul Chopra.
UAE T20I Squad vs Bangladesh
Mohammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Matiullah Khan, Mohammad Jawadullah, Mohammad Zohaib, Mohammad Zuhaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Saghir Khan, Sanchit Sharma, Simranjeet Singh.
