Khurram Khan has been retained as captain of the UAE team for their opening Intercontinental Cup match in Kenya this month.
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The selectors, who met late this evening, have made only two changes to the 14-strong squad that won the Division Two in April without losing a game.
Bhakthiyar Hamid Palekar, the opening batsman, gets his first international call-up at the age of 31, while Abdul Rehman, the middle-order batsman is making a comeback. The duo replace Naeemuddin Aslam, who is not available due to personal reasons, and Swapnil Patil is on holiday.
The team is packed with five spinners as the selectors stick to their traditional strength, while three pace bowlers will be making the trip.
"It is a well-balanced side," said Mazhar Khan, the Emirates Cricket Board administrator and conveyor of the selection committee.
"You have to get 20 wickets to win a match. So I believe we have a decent pace attack as well as a very good spin attack. I suppose it all depends on how the wicket in Nairobi will be, but I am sure given an opportunity, our spinners can do a good job, too."
The UAE will start their tour with two 50-over matches on July 25 and 26 before playing Kenya in the four-day match from July 28.
Kenya beat the UAE by 81 runs in the only Intercontinental Cup match between the teams, in 2008 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
"We have not done well against Kenya in the past," said Mohammed Lokhandwala, one of the selectors. "But this is another game, another day. We are confident that the boys will fight hard and try their best to get a good result."
Mazhar said: "I am confident the boys will definitely put up a good show.
"It's a balanced side in the sense that we have to play two 50-over matches as well. So we have a mixture of youth and experience there."
arizvi@thenational.ae
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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