T20 World Cup 2022: With cricket boards growing clout in world cricket, UAE has a lot to prove

 

The T20 World Cup is set to hit the main stage and with just a few days left for the tournament's qualifiers, which will have a few matches in the group stage. UAE will be one of the teams that will be in action on 16 October as they open their campaign against the Netherlands. This will be the second time that the UAE will participate in the T20 World Cup event. They have been enjoying good performances in recent times as a win over Ireland helped them qualify for the group stage for the T20 World Cup.

They also did well in the Asia Cup 2022 qualifiers, but things did not go down well for them in the final, where Hong Kong overtook them for a place in the competition.

UAE are placed in Group A along with Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Namibia and their primary target will be to break into the top 2 to make it to the Super 12 for the first time.

They will not enter the tournament as any underdogs as their journey in the group stage is bound to affect their future. The UAE Cricket Association has taken some major decisions in the recent past as they are also coming up with a domestic T20 league which will start from next year.

How was his performance last time?

Interestingly, the UAE failed to make it to the T20 World Cup last year. It was a long time ago in 2014 when the UAE last qualified for the group stage of the T20 World Cup which was also their first. The miners were pitted against some of the more experienced sides such as the Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Ireland. This proved to be a disaster for them as they failed to win any matches and finished at the bottom of their group.

players to watch

Muhammad Wasim: The right-handed batsman is going to be the key for UAE to secure their first win in T20 World Cup history. He played a key role in their qualification for the mega ICC event, scoring 241 runs in 5 matches in the qualification round. He also showcased his batting in the Asia Cup qualifiers. The 28-year-old has so far scored 650 runs in 17 T20Is at an impressive strike rate of 152.58.

Junaid Siddiqui: The pace and bounce is expected in Australia's conditions, where Siddiqui will play a key role for UAE in the tournament. He is the leader of the bowling attack despite playing just 25 T20Is in which he claimed 29 scalps.