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United Arab Emirates cricket team will return to international cricket as they host Ireland in the opening game. It will be a four-match ODI series in Abu Dhabi, commencing from January 8.
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UAE recently hosted the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 and is now going to welcome international cricket. It has been a year since UAE played international cricket. Their World Cup 2019 games had to be canceled after the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ireland is one of the countries that has played international cricket since the outbreak of COVID-19. The team had traveled to England for the 3-match ODI series in July last year. Ireland lost the first two ODIs before dragging a heist in the final one. In the final encounter, they chased down 329.
The last time UAE played an international match was in February 2020. They won the 2020 ACC Western Region T20 trophy. The team played the ODI for the last time in January 2020. It was the tri-nation One Day International series held in Oman. This was part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2.
Ireland play their next ODI series against Afghanistan
Unquestionably, Ireland is the favourite going into the ODI series. The team has dropped former captain William Porterfield from the white-ball leg. Even when he was a team member, Porterfield was not a regular choice in the starting XI.
Team management did not include George Dockrell as well. The senior spinner has played 87 ODIs, 77 T20Is, and one Test match so far. Boyd Rankin, once a player of the England team, was also dropped from the squad. On the other hand, the hosts will depend on Rohan Mustafa and Chirag Suri to face Ireland.
On January 8, both teams will face each other at Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) in the first ODI of the 4-match ODI series.
UAE vs Ireland: Squads
United Arab Emirates: Ahmed Raza (C), Waheed Ahmad, Rohan Mustafa, Vriitya Aravind, Kashif Daud, Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Usman, , Chirag Suri, Muhammad Boota, Zawar Farid, Zahoor Khan, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Adithya Shetty, Basil Hameed, Junaid Siddique.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Kevin O’Brien, Josh Little, James McCollum, Andrew McBrine, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Simi Singh, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.