Opener Muhammad Waseem will lead 15-member UAE squad in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series which also features Canada and Scotland. The 50-over matches will begin at 10:00 am local time. The tri-series will be staged at the Dubai International Stadium.
The squad includes four youngsters Muhammad Zuhaib, Omid Rahman, Rahul and Tanish Suri who have all earned their maiden callups in the national squad.
The top four teams from League 2 will make it to the ICC World Cup Qualifier. They will be joined in the Qualifier by four teams coming through the Qualifier Play-Offs as well as teams that don’t qualify automatically based on ICC ODI Rankings.
Eight teams including Canada, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE and USA were placed in the World Cup League 2 and the Qualifier Play-Offs, based on the previous World Cup Qualification cycle.
In the Dubai tri-series, the three teams will play each other twice in the 11-day long event. UAE will take on Canada in their series opener on February 28 .
Their second match will be against Scotland on March 3.
The UAE will take on Canada in the second fixture of the series between the two sides on March 5.
UAE will play Scotland in the last fixture of the series on Saturday, 9 March.
The tri-series is new head coach Lalchand Rajput’s first assignment with the UAE men’s national team.
UAE squad for ICC CWC League 2 tri-series: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Zuhaib, Omid Rahman, Rahul, Rahul Bhatia, Raja Akif, Sanchit Sharma, Tanish Suri, Vriitya Aravind and Zahoor Khan.
ICC CWC League 2 tri-series schedule:
28 February – UAE vs Canada, Dubai International Stadium
1 March – Scotland vs Canada, Dubai International Stadium
3 March – UAE vs Scotland, Dubai International Stadium
5 March – UAE vs Canada, Dubai International Stadium
7 March – Canada vs Scotland, Dubai International Stadium
9 March – UAE vs Scotland, Dubai International Stadium