The UAE have announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20I tri-series against Pakistan and Afghanistan. It starts on August 29 in Sharjah. The tournament will be played till September 7 and will be followed by the men’s T20 Asia Cup in the UAE from September 9.
The UAE squad has four changes from the lot that finished runners-up in the Pearl of Africa Cup in Uganda. Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq and Muhammad Jawadullah have been included in the squad. Akif Raja, Matiullah Khan and Zuhaib Zubair have missed out.
Kaushik, who is 28 years old, is a left-handed middle-order batter and part-time spinner who is yet to make his international debut.
Siddique, 32, has played 59 ODIs and 71 T20Is, and taken 172 wickets across formats. Jawadullah is 26. He is a left-arm fast bowler with 54 wickets in 33 T20Is. The 32-year-old Farooq is a leg-spinner and all-rounder with nine wickets in eight T20Is.
The rest of the squad has experienced names such as captain Muhammad Waseem, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Rahul Chopra, Muhammad Zohaib and Saghir Khan. Former India opener Lalchand Rajput is the head coach.
UAE will play against Pakistan in their first match on August 30, followed by Afghanistan on September 1. They will face Pakistan again on September 4 and Afghanistan on September 5. The final is scheduled on September 7, just two days before the Asia Cup. UAE will announce their Asia Cup squad soon.
UAE squad: Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohid Khan, Saghir Khan.
For latest sports updates: Follow RevSportz