Junaid Siddique included in UAE's squad for upcoming home T20I tri-series

Dubai, Aug 27 (IANS) Fast bowler Junaid Siddique is amongst the known players to be included in UAE’s squad for upcoming home T20I tri-series against Afghanistan and Pakistan, set to happen in Sharjah from August 29 to September 7.

The series serves as a preparatory competition for all three sides as the Men's T20 Asia Cup takes place from September 9-28 in the UAE. Siddique, 32, has played 59 ODIs and 71 T20Is for the UAE and has picked up 76 and 96 wickets in the two white-ball formats respectively.

Apart from Siddique, who last played a T20I game in December 2024, uncapped all-rounder Harshit Kaushik, leg spin bowling all-rounder Muhammad Farooq and left-arm pacer Muhammad Jawadullah have been included in place of Akif Raja, Matiullah Khan and Zuhaib Zubair.

The rest of the UAE squad looks familiar, thanks to the likes of captain Muhammad Waseem, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Rahul Chopra, Muhammad Zohaib and Saghir Khan. UAE will play against Pakistan in their opening match of the tri-series on August 30.

Their rest of the matches in the tri-series come at a quick pace – facing Afghanistan on September 1, before meeting Pakistan again on September 4 and taking again on Afghanistan on September 5.

UAE, coached by former India opener Lalchand Rajput, are slotted with India, Oman and Pakistan in Group A of the Asia Cup. The UAE squad for the mega event will be announced soon. In the Asia Cup, UAE will open their campaign against India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 10.

UAE squad for T20I tri-series: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohid Khan, and Saghir Khan.

--IANS

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