Complete profile of UAE team competing at T20 World Cup 2022 - in pictures

National team will be participating in third ICC event when 20-over competition begins in Australia on Sunday

UAE TEAM AT T20 WORLD CUP: CP Rizwan - Restored to the T20I side in August after nearly a year out – and was immediately instilled as captain. Last year became the first cricketer from Kerala to score an ODI ton. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Vriitya Aravind: Wicket-keeper batter. Player of the tournament when UAE qualified. Holds a record with Shahid Afridi and Ahmed Shahzad as the only teenagers to have scored two ODI tons. Photo: USA Cricket

Chirag Suri: Opening batter. Has represented UAE at a World Cup before – the 2014 Under 19 version. Had a season in the IPL as part of the Gujarat Lions squad in 2017. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Muhammad Waseem: Opening batter. Has two T20I centuries to his name, including in the World Cup Qualifier final. Has two winners medals from the Abu Dhabi T10, and one from the PSL. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Basil Hameed: All-rounder who bowls off spin. Was working as an assistant sales manager at an insurance brokers when he was first picked for UAE. Probably the side’s best fielder. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Aryan Lakra: All-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox. Former UAE 19s captain. Debuted in the senior team this year – 18 months after Covid first prevented him from doing so. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Zawar Farid: Seam-bowling all-rounder who has just recently established himself in the side, having been on the fringes of the squad for the past three years. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Kashif Daud: Seam bowler and late middle-order hitter. Gave up his job as a cricket coach in Sharjah to become a full-time professional for the UAE last year, aged 35. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Karthik Meiyappan: Leg-spinner. Former vice-captain of UAE U19s. Once had a season training with Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL, despite being a Chennai Super Kings diehard. Courtesy USA Cricket.

Ahmed Raza: Left-arm spinner. Longest serving player in the team. Only survivor from the 2014 World T20 squad in Bangladesh. Unexpectedly deposed as T20 captain recently. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Zahoor Khan: Seam bowler known for his variations, chiefly a slower ball bouncer. Became the first UAE cricketer to play in a major franchise league when he featured in the 2021 PSL. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Junaid Siddique. UAE’s fastest bowler. Took 5-13 in a warm-up match against West Indies. Chanced on cricket in UAE when he asked if he could join a game in Zabeel Park on a day off from work. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Sabir Ali: Left-arm seam bowler. Arrived in Dubai on a visit visa in 2016, having played Grade 2, three-day cricket in Pakistan. Debuted for the national team in ODIs in Scotland this summer. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Alishan Sharafu: Middle-order batter. Captained UAE to plate success – including beating West Indies – at the U19 World Cup earlier in 2022. Could be the back-up wicketkeeper in an emergency. Chris Whiteoak/ The National

Aayan Afzal Khan: All-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls left-arm spin. Will become the youngest player ever to feature in a T20 World Cup if he plays, aged just 16. Chris Whiteoak/ The National

The UAE will bid to improve a lacklustre record at major tournaments when they play at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The national team have been to three ICC events at senior level to date. That is the 50-over World Cups of 1996 and 2015, and the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.

Over the course of the 14 matches they have played, they have just the one solitary success – when they beat Netherlands in Lahore in 1996.

The same opposition will provide their first chance to claim a World Cup scalp, when they meet the Dutch in the second game of the opening day of the first round in Geelong on Sunday.

Just one player in the squad – former captain Ahmed Raza – has experience of an ICC competition in UAE colours. That said, a number of those involved have at least sampled a taste of what it is like to be involved in top-level T20 competition via franchise cricket.

Scroll through the gallery for an insight on each of the players looking to carrying UAE to greater heights in Australia.