Hameed and Chopra have played 65 and 39 T20Is for UAE respectively. But they returned single-digit scores in the defeat in the first T20I against Ireland in Dubai on Thursday, and Hameed also conceded 28 in his two overs.
Parashar, 21, has already played 32 T20Is and was involved in a half-century partnership that gave Pakistan a brief scare at the men’s T20 Asia Cup last year. Mayank, 28, made his international debut at the T20 World Cup Asia and EAP Qualifier last year and was also part of the Rising Stars T20 Asia Cup in November.
UAE are placed in Group D in the 20-team 2026 edition alongside Afghanistan, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They will play two warm-up matches in Chennai – against Nepal on February 3 and against Italy on February 6 – and also start their T20 World Cup campaign at Chepauk against New Zealand on February 10. UAE will then travel to Delhi where they play Canada (February 13), Afghanistan (February 16) and South Africa (February 18).
UAE squad for Men’s T20 World Cup 2026
Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Mayank Kumar, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan, Simranjeet Singh.
