UAE prove their mettle with statement win over Sri Lanka in U19 Asia Cup

Aayan Khan believes world cricket is starting to take note of the UAE after they claimed another win against a Test-playing nation in the Under-19 Asia Cup.

The age-group side closed out a nervy two-wicket success against Sri Lanka at the ICC Academy on Monday.

It puts them in a strong position to finish in the top two places in their pool. If they beat Japan in two days’ time, they could be set for a semi-final against either India or Pakistan.

The win over Sri Lanka was the latest against a nation from cricket’s top tier. In the past two years, between the senior men’s team and their U19 colleagues, the UAE have beaten the West Indies, New Zealand, Ireland and Afghanistan in full limited-overs internationals.

The crowd of people there to see it included some notable faces. After their own afternoon gym session at the Academy, the majority of the men’s senior team stayed on the support the youngsters.

And Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan pace ace, shared some words of wisdom with the side in the aftermath of victory.

Aayan, the captain, was named man of the match, just as he had been when they beat West Indies at the U19 World Cup in the Caribbean last year.

“This ranks highly, both for the U19s and the UAE in general,” Aayan said.

“In the past two or three years, we have been able to defeat strong teams playing all around the world. We have defeated West Indies, New Zealand and now Sri Lanka.

SRI LANKA VS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - ACC MEN'S U19 ASIA CUP 2023

“It will be an eye-opener for all the teams around the world, to know that UAE cricket is here. We want to be among the top 12.

“Our staff and the board have been helping us a lot. We have been putting in a lot of hard work. We are playing all the top-level