UAE set to compete in two cricket world cups at same time in Australia

The UAE will be playing in two separate cricket world cups in the same month in the same state in Australia.

The men’s national team are getting ready to appear at a second T20 World Cup in Victoria.

Their first-round matches start in Geelong on October 16 with a fixture against the Netherlands, before they face Sri Lanka and Namibia.

If there is a gap in their practice schedule in the lead up to that, a number of their players are looking into the possibility of going along to watch the Indoor Cricket World Cup in Melbourne.

The UAE will also be represented in that event – and the side might well be harbouring even loftier ambitions in that than their outdoor colleagues.

Dubai hosted the Indoor Cricket World Cup the last time it was played, back in 2017.

Although Australia maintained their domination of the format by taking that title in Al Quoz – they have won all 10 editions of the Indoor Cricket World Cup – the UAE impressed during the tournament.

According to Vikrant Shetty, who has represented the country in both T20 and indoor World Cups in the past, they are confident of making an impression this time around, too.

“The indoor World Cup happens every three years, but because of Covid, this has been delayed by two years,” Shetty said.

“The team has changed a fair bit since we played in Dubai five years ago.

“Australia are the No 1 side, having won all the World Cups up until now. But hopefully the gap is closing up now.

“From our side, we feel better than we did in 2017. We have practised better, we have a coach who has come in from Sri Lanka, having played five World Cups himself.

“We feel more confident than we did last time, when we ranked No 5 out of nine nations. Hopefully, we can do better than last time.”