United Arab Emirates name Men's squad for World Cup
A 12-man squad was named by Emirates UAE Indoor Cricket for the tournament, featuring a number of players from their most recent international series, as well as two debutants.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have named a 12-man squad to contest the World Cup this September in Sri Lanka, with the announcement coming late last week by Emirates UAE Indoor Cricket.
The team picked by the selectors bears a similar resemblance to the squad which lost in the final of the Gulf Cup Tri-Series against Australia in September 2023, when the UAE last played an international series. The team was picked following recent trials and consideration of domestic performances.
Aqib Malik will captain the side with eight other players from the 2023 Tri-Series also included - Hariharan Gurumurthy, Jay Joshi, Nadir Hussain, Prashath Kumara, Prem Vyas, Muhammed Shijas Backer, Suhail Kazi, and Krishna Karate.
Veteran player Vikrant Shetty comes back into the team after being unavailable for the previous series, whilst both Farhan Khan and Rukhsar Malik will make their debuts. Nazir Naqqash, Mohammed Shiras, and Arjun Manohar make way.
Malik, who currently has 47 test caps, will be in line to become the second UAE player to play 50 international matches at Open Men’s level, with teammate Kumara being the other to reach the milestone.
Whilst Tharindu Mendis took the reins for the Gulf Tri-Series, neither a coach nor a manager was named by Emirates UAE Indoor Cricket when announcing the squad.
UAE continue to show promise as an emerging indoor cricket nation when given the chance, most notably pushing New Zealand at the NZ-Asia Cup, as well as Australia at the Gulf Cup Tri-Series, in the finals of those respective tournaments back in 2023. Their tournament experience, a staple of the UAE indoor cricket environment, has aided them in this pursuit as well as a growing number of players in their talent pool.
They will be looking for a vast improvement in performance, in conditions which should suit them better, after an underwhelming World Cup tournament in Melbourne, where they won just two of ten round-robin matches. They recovered in the second phase of the tournament to reach the Plate final, before falling just short to South Africa. They should go to Colombo this time round expecting to compete for a top four finish.
UAE Open Women, Under-22 Men and Under-22 Women’s sides are expected to be named later this month.
The UAE are the fifth country to name a Men’s side for the tournament after New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and England.
The 2025 Indoor Cricket World Cup will take place from Colombo, Sri Lanka from 27 September to 4 October.
UAE Open Men’s Squad: 2025 World Cup
Aqib Malik (C), Hariharan Gurumurthy (VC), Jay Joshi, Nadir Hussain, Prashath Kumara, Prem Vyas*, Mohammed Shijas Backer, Suhail Kazi, Krishnachandran Karate, Vikrant Shetty, Farhan Khan, Rukhsar Malik.
Reserves: Aman Agarwal, Noufal Basheer, Rishi Ramchandani.
*Subject to injury clearance
Image: Getty Images for Cricket Australia
Graphic: Shewon Fonseka
