Muhammad Waseem has been reinstated as captain of the UAE’s T20I team for the upcoming two-match series against Bangladesh in Sharjah, following his decision to step down from the role in October last year. The series is set to commence shortly, with matches scheduled for 17 and 19 May.
This series marks UAE’s first T20I contest since they triumphed in the Gulf T20 Championship last December, overcoming Kuwait in the final. Bangladesh represents a more formidable challenge compared to previous opponents, which included Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar.
Rahul Chopra, the wicketkeeper-batsman, had previously filled the captaincy role after Waseem’s 26-game tenure from 2023 to 2024. Waseem had cited a desire to improve his batting in ODIs as his reason for relinquishing captaincy, stating, “I have decided to step down as captain to concentrate on my batting in the ODI format.”
Waseem remains a key player for UAE, leading the team’s run-scoring charts in T20Is since his debut in 2021, and is notably the highest run-scorer in T20Is globally since that time. However, his form has recently waned, lacking a half-century since an innings against Qatar late last year and managing just one ODI fifty in the past two years.
UAE’s recent performances in the Cricket World Cup League 2 in the Netherlands have been disappointing, with defeats in four out of five matches, winning only against Scotland. In that victory, Chopra scored a century, supported by Simranjeet Singh, whose left-arm spin delivered four crucial wickets.
UAE’s selected squad for the series against Bangladesh includes: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Muhammad Zuhaib, Rahul Chopra (wicketkeeper), Saghir Khan, Sanchit Sharma, and Simranjeet Singh.
