Dubai: UAE’s seasoned opener Muhammad Waseem will lead UAE in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. UAE will begin their tournament journey on Sunday 1 February, with the team’s departure to Chennai, India from Dubai.

UAE are placed in Group D in the 20-team tournament. The group also includes Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. UAE will play two warm-up matches in Chennai (against Nepal on Tuesday, 3 February and Friday, 6 February versus Italy) as well as their opening match of the tournament against New Zealand on Tuesday, 10 February. The squad will then travel to Delhi where they play their remaining three Group D matches. 
UAE will take on Canada on Friday, 13 February and Afghanistan on Monday, 16 February. Their last Group D match is against South Africa which will be played on Wednesday, 18 February. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eights stage will commence on Saturday, 21 February. 

The UAE squad includes three players from the team that competed in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 (Australia) – UAE’s last T20 World Cup appearance. Besides Waseem, Alishan Sharafu and Junaid Siddique made the trip to Australia. 
The richly experienced Waseem has remained UAE’s captain for the last three years, in his 92-match career, the right-hander has led the side in 66 matches.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Arafat (27 international matches for Pakistan) has joined the squad as fast bowling coach for the tournament. Since taking up coaching at the end of his playing career, Yasir has coached various national teams and prominent franchises from around the world. 

The 43-year old will work with the UAE team during the World Cup and the preceding two-match T20I series against Ireland – the second T20I will be played at the Dubai International Stadium tomorrow. 

Zimbabwe’s Stanley Chioza (former High Performance Coach and National Technical Staff, Zimbabwe Cricket) - will serve as team’s fielding coach for the tournament. 
*UAE squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026:* Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Mayank Kumar, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan and Simranjeet Singh. 

Support Staff: Amjad Ezzi (team manager), Lalchand Rajput (head coach), Yasir Arafat (fast bowling coach), Stanley Chioza (fielding coach), Azharuddin Qureshi (strength and conditioning coach), Dr Abhijeet Salvi (team doctor), Manipreet Sidhu (video analyst), Emmad Hameed (media manager) and Manish Pardeshi (physiotherapist). 

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, UAE’s Group D match schedule:
Tuesday, 10 February – New Zealand vs UAE, Chennai.
Friday, 13 February – Canada vs UAE, Delhi.
Monday, 16 February – Afghanistan vs UAE, Delhi.
Wednesday, 18 February – South Africa vs UAE, Delhi.