UAE name squad for USA League 2 assignment

The United Arab Emirates have named a 15-player group for their Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series tour in the USA.

Harpreet Singh captains the side, having taken the captaincy of the side earlier this year.

There are first-time call-ups for 17-year-old batter and U19 international Ayaan Misbah, and left-arm spinner Awais Ali Shah.

All-rounder Basil Hameed meanwhile returns to the group, earning a recall after last playing an ODI match for his country since November 2024. The spin-bowling all-rounder also missed out on selection at the T20 World Cup this year, last appearing in the shorter white-ball format in January this year.

The side have struggled on the road to Cricket World Cup 2027, and sit in last on the Cricket World Cup League 2 table with just eight win in 28 outings.

There is a pathway to next year's global event even if the Emiratis finish outside the top four of the competition, though it would be through a Qualifier Play-off, where the bottom four of League 2 join the top-two finishers in each group from Cricket World Cup Challenge League, the 50-over competition below. The top four teams of the eight team Play-off would then enter the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

All six fixtures of the League 2 tri-series will be played from October 3 to October 13 at Grand Prairie Stadium, the venue that played host at ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

The tri-series is UAE's penultimate assignment in the competition, with the team also facing The Netherlands and Oman.

UAE squad: Harpreet Singh Bhatia (c), Aayan Afzal Khan, Adeeb Usmani, Akshdeep Nath, Ali Naseer, Ayaan Misbah, Awais Ali Shah, Basil Hameed, Ibrar Ahmed, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Shahdad, Rahul Chopra, Sohaib Khan and Tanish Suri.