UAE T20 World Cup 2026 team preview: Squad, fixtures, probable XI, key players and tournament prediction

The UAE first qualified for the T20 World Cup in 2014. As expected, they crashed out in the first round, losing all three matches. What was disheartening is that the team did not even put up a fight—losing by six wickets to the Netherlands and five to Zimbabwe, while Ireland won comfortably via the DLS method. To make things worse, the other debutants, Nepal and Hong Kong, did well—the former won twice, including against the latter, while Hong Kong upset hosts Bangladesh.

At their second T20 World Cup, in 2022 in Australia, the UAE got their first win—beating Namibia by seven runs. But they finished last in the group behind the Africans—who had beaten Sri Lanka—by virtue of an inferior net run rate. Nonetheless, the UAE’s participation in 2022 gave them a bye to the regional qualification finals for the 2024 edition. But, in the semifinals, they suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Nepal, thereby missing out on the World Cup. During the qualifiers this time, the UAE were outperformed by lower-ranked Nepal and Oman, before scraping through with wins against Qatar, Samoa and Japan.

Squad

Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Mayank Kumar, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan, Simranjeet Singh.

Fixtures

Feb 10: New Zealand vs UAE, Chennai

Feb13: Canada vs UAE, Delhi

Feb 16: Afghanistan vs UAE, Delhi

Feb 18: South Africa vs UAE, Delhi

Probable starting XI

Muhammad Waseem (c), Mayank Kumar, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Zohaib, Junaid Siddique, Haider Ali, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Arfan

Key players

Muhammad Waseem

The highest-capped player with 93 matches under his belt, he has captained the side in 67 of those. The 31-year-old opener's ability to score quickly in the Powerplay will be instrumental if the UAE are to remain competitive.

Junaid Siddique

Alongside Waseem, he is the other senior player in this relatively young squad. The 33-year-old has 115 wickets in 85 T20Is with an impressive average of 20.70. He is effective with the new ball as well as at the death.

Alishan Sharafu

Apart from Waseem and Siddique, Sharafu, still only 23, is the only player who has survived from the 2022 squad. Though he likes to take on the bowlers, he has also improved his ability to stabilise and anchor an innings.

Tournament prediction

The UAE will find it tough to make it out of the group. Notably, they have a famous win against the Kiwis, but it is highly unlikely that they will be able to repeat the feat at the World Cup, and also against the Proteas and the Afghans. They have to aim for a win against Canada and try to give a good account of themselves in the other matches.