The United Arab Emirates men's national cricket team represents the United Arab Emirates in international cricket. They are governed by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) which became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1989 and an Associate Member the following year. Since 2005, the ICC's headquarters have been located in Dubai.
One of the emerging One Day International (ODI) teams, the UAE won the ACC Trophy on four consecutive occasions between 2000 and 2006, and were runners-up in the tournament on three occasions, in 1996, 1998 They won the ICC Trophy in 1994, and played their first ODIs that year, later playing in the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
The UAE made the group stage of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The team qualified for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier as hosts. Following the demise of the World Cricket League (WCL), UAE played in the 2019–22 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.
History
Early days
In 1892, cricket was introduced by the British Army in what is now the UAE, but was then known as the "Trucial States". The game spread during World War II, as personnel from the British Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth forces (which included first-class and club cricketers from Australia and New Zealand) stationed in cities such as Ajman, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah, continued their favourite pastime. The pitches installed by them around the air base in Sharjah were used by British and other foreign nationals after the war ended. and four Test matches, the Test matches having been held there due to security concerns in Pakistan following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team in March 2009, in Lahore. and the Kenyan players and cricket board were very vocal in their anger at being defeated by what they and other observers described as a team of imported mercenaries. They finished last in a tri-series against Kenya and the Netherlands the same year and also finished last in a tournament against the A sides of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1995. They returned to ODI cricket in the 1996 World Cup where they lost all matches except the one against the Netherlands, which was the first ever ODI between two associate members of the ICC.
21st century
2000 – 2009
With Bangladesh being promoted to ICC full membership, the UAE began to establish themselves as the top associate side in Asia, though they often fell short against the top associates in Europe and North America, a position that remains to this day. They beat Hong Kong in the final of the 2006 ACC Trophy, but began their 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup campaign with an innings defeat by Namibia. The campaign continued with a draw against Scotland and a defeat by Ireland, again by an innings. They finished fourth in the first ACC Twenty20 Cup in 2007. The team fared better in Division Two of the World Cricket League in Windhoek in 2007, winning the tournament after beating Oman in the final.
They again played in the Asia Cup in 2008, losing to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the first round. Their 2008 ACC Trophy Elite began with a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia, their first ACC Trophy defeat since the 1998 semi-final.
2010 – present
In October 2010, the team announced that it had hired Kabir Khan to become its coach. Khan had great success with the Afghan team during his one-year stint as they became eligible to play ODIs. Kabir Khan also stated that his aim was to help UAE qualify for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.
In April 2011, the UAE hosted and won Division Two of the World Cricket League without losing a match. In June/July 2011, they played Kenya at Nairobi for the first round of 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup. In December, the UAE participated in the 2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup in Nepal. Then in 2013, they traveled to Scotland to compete in the 2013 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, the final event of the 2009–13 World Cricket League.
UAE finished third in the 2013 ACC Twenty20 Cup which after defeating Hong Kong in the play-off for third place. In November, they hosted 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and finished fourth after losing to Nepal in the play-off for third place, and qualified for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, defeating the Netherlands by 10 runs in the quarter-final.
UAE participated in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 but were unsuccessful in the tournament, going without a win. UAE finished second in the 2014 ACC Premier League and qualified for the 2014 ACC Championship. They also qualified for 2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
UAE qualified to play in the Cricket World Cup after a lapse of almost twenty years. Unlike other teams in the tournament, the squad of players mainly consisted of semi-professionals. The team registered their highest ODI total ever at the 2015 Cricket World Cup in a group stage match played against Zimbabwe in Nelson, New Zealand. However, they failed to register a win and were eliminated from the 2015 Cricket World Cup with 6 losses out of 6 matches in Pool B. They returned to T20 cricket in the 2022 World Cup where they lost all matches except the one against Namibia, which was the first ever T20 between two associate members of the ICC.
New Zealand toured UAE in August 2023 for a three match T20I series. In the second T20I, UAE pulled off a stunning upset, defeating New Zealand by 7 wickets. It was UAE's first international win over New Zealand and also New Zealand's first defeat against an associate team.
International grounds
{| class="sortable wikitable"
! Venue
! City
!Map
|-
|Dubai International Cricket Stadium
|Dubai
| rowspan="4" |
|-
|Sharjah Cricket Stadium
|Sharjah
|-
|Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium
|Abu Dhabi
|-
|ICC Academy Ground
|Dubai
|}
Infrastructure
In terms of infrastructure, the UAE have the best stadiums as compared to other Associate members: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi;
DSC Cricket Stadium, Dubai and Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, which has hosted around 200 ODIs and Test matches.
International stadiums in Ajman and Al Ain are currently under development.
The following are the main cricket stadiums in UAE:
- Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
- Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
- Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
- Dubai Cricket Council Ground No 1, Dubai
- Dubai Cricket Council Ground No 2, Dubai
- ICC Global Cricket Academy 1, Dubai
- ICC Global Cricket Academy 2, Dubai
- Ajman International Cricket Stadium, Ajman
- Al Ain International Cricket Stadium, Al Ain
Tournament history
Cricket World Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! colspan="8" |World Cup record
|-
! width=150 |Year
! width=150 |Round
! width=50 |Position
! width=50 |
! width=50 |
! width=50 |
! width=50 |
! width=50 |
|-
| 1975||colspan="7" rowspan=4|Not eligible – not an ICC member
|-
| 1979
|-
| 1983
|-
| 1987
|-
| 1992||colspan="7"|Did not participate in qualifying
|-
| 1996||First Round||11/12||5||1||4||0||0
|-
| 1999||colspan="7" rowspan=4|Did not qualify
|-
| 2003
|-
| 2007
|-
| 2011
|-
| 2015||Group Stage||13/14||6||0||6||0||0
|-
| 2019||colspan="7" rowspan=2|Did not qualify
|-
| 2023
|-
| 2027||colspan="7"|TBD
|-
|Total||Group Stage|| 2/12||11||1||10||0||0
|}
T20 World Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=8|ICC T20 World Cup
|-
! width=150 |Year
! width=150 |Round
! width=50 |Position
! width=50 |GP
! width=50 |W
! width=50 |L
! width=50 |T
! width=50 |NR
|-
| 2007|| colspan="7" rowspan="4" |Did not qualify
|-
| 2009
|-
| 2010
|-
| 2012
|-
| 2014|||Group Stage||16/16||3||0||3||0||0
|-
| 2016|| colspan="7" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify
|-
| 2021
|-
| 2022||Group Stage||16/16||3||1||2||0||0
|-
| 2024|| colspan="7" |Did not qualify
|-
| 2026||Group Stage||16/20||4||1||3||0||0
|-
|Total||Group Stage||16th||10||2||8||0||0
|-
|}
ICC World Cup Qualifier
- 1979 to 1986: Not eligible – Not an ICC member
- 1994: Winners
- 2014: Runner up (Qualified for 2015 Cricket World Cup)
- 2018: 6th place
- 2023: 9th place
ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier
- 2010: 3rd Place
- 2013: 4th Place
- 2015: 13th Place
- 2019: 8th Place
- 2022 (A): Champions
- 2023 (T20 WC Asia Qualifier): 3rd place
ICC Twenty20 World Cup Asia–EAP Regional Final
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width=900px;"
|-
!colspan=9|ICC Twenty20 World Cup Asia–EAP Regional Final records
|-
! width=150 |Year
! width=150 |Round
! width=50 |Position
! width=50 |GP
! width=50 |W
! width=50 |L
! width=50 |T
! width=50 |NR
|-
| 2025||Qualified to 2026 T20 World Cup ||6||4||2||0||0||0
|-
|Total||1/1||0 Title ||6||4||2||0||0
|}
Intercontinental Cup
- 2004: Semi Finals
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 500px;"
|-
| colspan=7 align="center" | Playing Record
|-
! Format !! M !! W !! L !! T !! NR !! Inaugural match
|-
| align="left"| One-Day Internationals || 132 || 44 || 87 || 1 || 0 || 13 April 1994
|-
| align="left"| Twenty20 Internationals || 149 || 79 || 69 || 0 || 1 || 17 March 2014
|}
Last updated 3 May 2026.
One-Day Internationals
- Highest team total: 348/3 v. Namibia on 12 March 2022 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
- Highest individual score: 151*, Asif Khan v. United States on 6 July 2023 at Takashinga Cricket Club, Harare
- Best individual bowling figures: 6/34, Zahoor Khan v. Ireland on 2 March 2017 at ICC Academy 1, Dubai
Most ODI runs for the United Arab Emirates
{| class="wikitable"
! Player!!Runs!!Average!!Career span
|-
|Vriitya Aravind || 1,865 || 31.08 || 2019–2025
|-
|Muhammad Waseem|| 1,745 || 25.28 || 2022–2026
|-
|Rohan Mustafa|| 1,504 || 21.48 || 2014–2023
|-
|Asif Khan || 1,270 || 38.48 || 2022–2025
|-
|Shaiman Anwar|| 1,219 || 31.25 || 2014–2019
|}
Most ODI wickets for the United Arab Emirates
{| class="wikitable"
! Player!!Wickets!!Average!!Career span
|-
|Junaid Siddique|| 98 || 27.07 || 2019–2026
|-
|Zahoor Khan|| 93 || 25.86 || 2017–2024
|-
|Rohan Mustafa|| 85 || 33.29 || 2014–2023
|-
|Ahmed Raza|| 64 || 30.06 || 2014–2022
|-
|Mohammad Naveed|| 53 || 33.15 || 2014–2019
|}
ODI record versus other nations
- Highest individual score: 117*, Shaiman Anwar v. Papua New Guinea on 14 April 2017 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
- Best individual bowling figures: 5/19, Ahmed Raza v. Nepal on 22 February 2022 at Oman Cricket Academy Ground Turf 1, Muscat
Most T20I runs for the United Arab Emirates
{| class="wikitable"
! Player!!Runs!!Average!!Career span
|-
|Muhammad Waseem || 3,338 || 36.68 || 2021–2026
|-
|Alishan Sharafu || 1,816 || 32.42 || 2020–2026
|-
|Asif Khan || 1,302 || 28.30 || 2023–2025
|-
|Vriitya Aravind || 1,052 || 27.68 || 2020–2024
|-
|Rohan Mustafa || 1,006 || 20.95 || 2014–2023
|}
Most T20I wickets for the United Arab Emirates
{| class="wikitable"
! Player!!Wickets!!Average!!Career span
|-
|Junaid Siddique || 124 || 20.51 || 2019–2026
|-
|Zahoor Khan || 72 || 19.52 || 2017–2023
|-
|Rohan Mustafa || 61 || 21.03 || 2014–2023
|-
|Muhammad Jawadullah || 60 || 19.93 || 2020–2026
|-
|Ali Naseer || 51 || 20.03 || 2023–2024
|}
T20I record versus other nations
- Highest individual score: 126 not out by Azhar Saeed, 25 February 1994 at Aga Khan Sports Club Ground, Nairobi
- Best innings bowling: 5/32 by Ahmed Nadeem v. USA, 1 July 2005 at The Meadow, Downpatrick
Overall
- Highest team total: 459/4 v. Brunei,
- Highest individual score: 213 not out by Arshad Ali v. Brunei,
World records
- Khurram Khan is the oldest player to score an ODI century as well as the oldest player to score his maiden ODI century (at the age of 43 years and 162 days).
See also
- List of United Arab Emirates ODI cricketers
- List of United Arab Emirates Twenty20 International cricketers
- United Arab Emirates national women's cricket team
Notes
References
External links
- Emirates Cricket Board (Official website)
- International League T20 (Official website)