The UAE have four matches left in the Cricket World Cup League Two. Let’s be honest, it can’t end soon enough.
The national team have endured a miserable three years in one-day international cricket. So much so that the privilege of playing it at all is now on the line.
They are bottom of the CWCL2 table, having lost 21 of their 32 matches so far. With two games each against Oman and the Netherlands in Dubai over the next two weeks, it is doubtful how many wins they will be able to add to their tally.
It means they will now have to play to retain their status at the Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off in Nepal in December. The ICC haven’t announced the criteria for having official ODI privileges in the next four-year cycle.
UAE lose to Scotland – in pictures
It has been speculated that the game’s governing body might be about to extend the number of countries who play ODIs.
Although where the funding will come from to keep sides like the UAE – who have had regular ODI status for the past 11 years – in the matter to which they have become accustomed is anyone’s guess.
After all, the ICC traditionally prefer a conservative approach to things like this, rather than an expansionist one.
But the UAE are working on the assumption they need to finish in the top four of that eight-team play-off in Kathmandu to safeguard their status. That should be doable, but it is far from a foregone conclusion given the opposition.
Namibia, who will in all likelihood be involved, and Nepal have had the UAE’s measure for some time now.
Canada have hit a dip at just the wrong time for them, with the UAE beating them when they met in Scotland in the summer.
The national team have been adept at punching down when it comes to sides lower ranked than them in the recent past.
But the four sides coming up from the Challenge League – Italy, Uganda, Jersey and probably Kuwait – will be far from easy beats.
At their best, the UAE should have no concerns. But they are so infrequently in that condition, and the team continues to be in a state of flux.
Just six players in the squad for the final tri-series were part of the XI for the first CWCL2 match, which was a loss to Canada in Dubai in 2024.
Having been out the ODI side for some time, Muhammad Waseem has been recalled for UAE’s triseries against Oman and Ned
— Paul Radley (@PaulRadley) October 22, 2026
If he retains his place for the subsequent qualifier playoff, he won’t be able to take up his TWO-HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR ILT20 contract 🤯 pic.twitter.com/OP3GaJdqvb
And four of those – Basil Hameed, Aayan Khan, Muhammad Waseem and Tanish Suri – have spent long periods out of the team in the intervening time.
The side have been undermined by the constant change, and it has shown in results. Young players on whom the future should have been built – such as Ali Naseer, Alishan Sharafu, Ethan D’Souza and Vriitya Aravind – have been tried and discarded.
Even the captaincy has been tossed around with liberal abandon. Four people have led over the course of the three year competition, with some – such as Rahul Chopra, who is back at the helm now – being dispensed then recalled.
The league campaign started with Waseem in charge. Tellingly, he was missing the chance to take up a contract in the Pakistan Super League to play in that first tri-series.
Now he has been recalled to the side. If he is retained for the play-off, he will have to forego a large chunk of the $210,000 deal he landed to play in the DP World ILT20.
They seemed to have finally settled on a captain who had the faith of coach Lalchand Rajput when Harpreet Bhatia ascended to the role this year, just a few months into being in the country.
Now his future, too, is in doubt. Harpreet will miss the games against Oman and the Netherlands as he is on an indefinite break from cricket on compassionate grounds.
The Emirates Cricket Board announced this week he would be returning to India as his mother is ill.
“I am grateful to the [ECB] for accepting my request of taking a break from cricket, as well as all the support the board has given me in recent days and months,” Bhatia said.
“For now, my full focus is my mother’s health and well-being. I wish the team the very best for their upcoming fixtures.”
The ECB in turn said it “offers its full support to Harpreet and his family in this difficult time”. “The board is fully committed to the mental health and well-being of all its players and support staff especially when they have challenges pertaining to their families,” the ECB wrote.
“We thank Harpreet for his professionalism and commitment to the ECB and the UAE men’s national cricket team. We are all praying for his mother and wish her a full recovery at the earliest.”
The UAE start their CWCL2 tri-series when they face Oman at the ICC Academy in Dubai Sports City on Sunday.