UAE captain Muhammad Waseem has a lot to look forward to at the DP World International League T20, which begins in Sharjah on Friday.
Just don’t talk about the T20 World Cup later in the year, for which the national team failed to qualify, and which is “too painful” a topic to discuss.
This year, every T20 assignment is more or less geared towards the showpiece event in the Caribbean and the US this summer, with many international players hoping to impress their respective selectors at every opportunity that comes their way.
But for Waseem and his UAE teammates, it will be about continuing the hard work that was put in during the inaugural season.
Waseem was the fourth-highest run scorer in ILT20 2023, playing for MI Emirates, with three fifties.
It was a sign of things to come from Waseem as he finished the calendar year as the only player with more than 100 sixes in international cricket.
And while there was to be no World Cup for UAE, the national team did put up a brave fight in the recently concluded T20 series against Afghanistan, taking a win off their opponents and pushing the visitors all the way in the decider.
All of which fills Waseem with hope of more success with MI Emirates in the second season of ILT20.
“It is an honour for me to play for a team like MI, it is a big franchise that everyone wants to play for. I learnt a lot from a legend like Kieron Pollard and have applied that to my UAE captaincy as well,” Waseem says.
“And to be honest, after we finished the ILT20, I got interest from other leagues well.”
ILT20 2023 team of the tournament
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1) Alex Hales (Desert Vipers) Went cold just at the wrong point, but the leading run-scorer’s blockbusting opening pairing with Rohan Mustafa will be one of the salient memories of the first ILT20 season. Pankaj Nangia / CREIMAS -
2) Muhammad Waseem (MI Emirates) Predictably, given his excellence in T20 international cricket to date, Waseem was the outstanding UAE player in the competition. AFP -
3) James Vince (Gulf Giants) Missed out on the green belt for the leading run-getter to Hales by 30 runs. Led from the front for the champions. Vipin Pawar / CREIMAS -
4) Nicholas Pooran (MI Emirates) Averaged 50 and had a strike-rate of 142.57, which is about standard for the T20 titan. Deepak Malik / ILT20 / CREIMAS -
5) Rovman Powell (Dubai Capitals) Oddly removed as captain of the Capitals with a game to go in the league phase, despite being by far their most prolific batter. ILT20 -
6) Kieron Pollard (MI Emirates) More sixes – 29 – than fours – 27. More than a quarter of the 205 balls he faced in the competition were sent to the boundary. AFP -
7) David Wiese (Gulf Giants) Does everything. Crucial runs, one of the leading wicket-takers, and took a brilliant catch at a crucial stage in the final. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
8) Wanindu Hasaranga (Desert Vipers) All class, as shown in the final with his valiant counter-attacking half-century. The Giants were not home until they had seen the last of Hasaranga with the ball. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
9) Chris Jordan (Gulf Giants) Hailed as Chris “White Belt” Jordan for much of the final throes of the event, given that was the prize for the leading wicket-taker. He ended with 20. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
10) Sheldon Cottrell (Desert Vipers) The Jamaican took 12 wickets, with an economy rate of under seven. All his opponents were happy merely to see him off. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
11) Junaid Siddique (Sharjah Warriors) Never shirks a fight, even on the biggest stage, as he showed with one very brave send off of Kieron Pollard. AFP
Attracting the attention of other leagues will be on the radar of many UAE players, for whom the ILT20 is the perfect platform to mix with the best and show the world what they are made of.
Waseem has high hopes of two players, especially, from the UAE squad – franchise mate Asif Khan and Sharjah Warriors pacer Muhammad Jawadullah.
There are other UAE names as well waiting to take centre stage. Teenage all-rounder Aayan Khan, with Gulf Giants, is seen as the future of cricket here and will be joined by batsman Usman Khan, who is aiming to be eligible for UAE.
Waseem will hope to make his mark under new leadership at MI Emirates. Former UAE coach Robin Singh has taken over as head coach of the franchise, while Caribbean star Nicholas Pooran takes over the captaincy from Kieron Pollard.
“I have played with Robin sir for two to three years. He has done a lot for me, and now he is our coach. I played under Pooran a few years back in T10 at Northern Warriors. In MLC [Major League Cricket in the US], his team [MI New York] were champions. I hope he does well,” Waseem adds.
