Adnan Mufti set for UAE debut as ECB name team to face Namibia in Desert Twenty20 opener

DUBAI // The UAE will get the chance to start afresh after a miserable 2016 when they host the Desert Twenty20 next week.

The national team signed off a forgettable 12 months with a 3-0 series whitewash at the hands of Afghanistan last month.

They have the chance to exact revenge immediately, having been pitted in the same preliminary group as the Afghans for the Desert T20, a new 20 over competition for eight leading non-Test nations.

A tough Pool A is completed by Ireland and Namibia. The Netherlands, Scotland, Oman and Hong Kong make up Pool B for an event that will be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The UAE selectors have stuck with the majority of the players who struggled to just five wins in 14 T20 internationals across the course of last year.

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The most notable inclusion, though, is that of Adnan Mufti, ahead of his competitive debut for the national team.

The 32-year-old batsman played 46 first-class matches for Rawalpindi in his native Pakistan, before he relocated to the UAE, where he played for the now-defunct Danube in domestic cricket.

He showed a glimpse of his potential in his first appearance in national team colours, in the last of the three-match friendly series against England Lions at the start of December.

The left-hander made an 80-ball 69 to take the UAE to within sight of a shock win against England’s second string.

Owais Shah, the interim UAE coach, will be hopeful Mufti’s arrival will help bolster a batting line up that has consistently misfired since the retirement of national team greats Khurram Khan and Saqib Ali 18 months ago.

Waleed Bukhatir, the Emirates Cricket Board’s chief selector, says he is confident the squad of players named are capable of turning results around.

“We are very confident in the players who have been selected ahead of UAE’s first game against Namibia, and we are expecting our team to post a strong, winning result,” Bukhatir said.

“This group of players continues to encourage the board with their commitment to increasing their fitness levels, fine tuning their skills, and embracing a winning mindset. We look forward to their hard work being rewarded.”

pradley@thenational.ae

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Desert T20

Pool A: Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland, Namibia

Pool B: Netherlands, Scotland, Hong Kong, Oman

UAE squad:

Amjad Javed, Mohammed Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Rameez Shahzad, Ghulam Shabbir, Mohammed Qasim, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Naveed, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Shanil, Zahoor Ahmed

Fixtures

Saturday, January 14