The United Arab Emirates failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup last year which will have disappointed them greatly but to their credit they licked their wounds, dusted themselves down and made sure they qualified for this tournament. Whether they will be suited by the conditions remains to be seen but after that disappointment of last year just being here is an achievement and they might feel that everything from here on in is a bonus.
Profile
Captain: Chundangapoyil Rizwan
Previous Best: Group Stage 2014
Best Odds: 2000/1 Bet365
Key Players: Muhammad Waseem & Basil Hameed
Group A Fixtures
Oct 16 vs Netherlands at Geelong
Oct 18 vs Sri Lanka at Geelong
Oct 20 vs Namibia at Geelong
Squad
C P Rizwan (c), Vriitya Aravind, Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, Basil Hameed, Aryan Lakra, Zawar Farid, Kashif Daud, Karthik Meiyappan, Ahmed Raza, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Sabir Ali, Alishan Sharafu, Aayan Khan. Standby Players: Sultan Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Vishnu Sukumaran, Adithya Shetty, Sanchit Sharma.
Team Guide
By not qualifying for the tournament last year it meant that the UAE had to go to the qualifying campaign for this competition so they have been fairly active over the course of 2022. A key feature of their performances in this calendar year has been their batting. Only twice in 13 outings have they failed to make 150 and they were competitive enough against West Indies in a warm up in Australia ahead of the tournament even though their opponents had much more going for them.
It goes without saying that if UAE are to make any progress at all from this group then their bowlers are going to need to be at their best and they are going to have to be spot on tactically. If they can continue to score runs though then it would certainly give them a platform to put some pressure on an opponent and when they do that you just never know what that might yield. Qualifying from the section is going to be a big ask though.
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Betting
I do fear a little for the UAE bowling over the course of what I expect to be just a three match stay in the tournament. That makes their top tournament bowler market incredibly tough to bet on because it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that it is won with one wicket or two wickets. The other reason why it is hard to bet on is because they have a largely spin dominated attack and whether they will go well with the rain around remains to be seen.
Instead I’ll look to the batting where there is a standout performer and I think this is a stage which Muhammad Waseem can relish and come out as the leading scorer. He has a pretty useful 503 T20I runs in 2022 and they have come at 38.69 with four 50s and a ton. A lot of that will be at a lower level but the UAE batters all face the same attacks here. If any convincing was needed then his 69 from 52 in that warm up game against West Indies was more than enough and even at 17/10 he looks a good bet to come out on top here.
Tips
Back M.Waseem Top UAE Tournament Batter for a 3/10 stake at 2.70 with Betway
