New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on Wednesday approved Haider Shah as a replacement for Muhammad Zohaib in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) squad.
“Haider, who has played 16 T20Is, was named as a replacement after Zohaib was withdrawn from the squad due to player mental well-being and team welfare issues,” said ICC in a statement.
The UAE suffered a 10-wicket defeat against New Zealand in their tournament opener.
Tim Seifert and Finn Allen produced a world record opening partnership of 175 runs as New Zealand thrashed the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets in a Group C match on Tuesday.
The openers from New Zealand took the flimsy bowling of their UAE counterparts apart and won convincingly to make it two out of two at Chennai for New Zealand, while the UAE were left without a win and frustrated.
The UAE captain, Mohammed Waseem, won the toss and opted to bat on a true, bouncy pitch. The intention was there right away, but Aryansh Sharma got things off to a poor start when he miscued a quick delivery from Jacob Duffy and was dismissed for 12 runs at 1/12.
The New Zealand pace attack had little impact on them as they put together an impressive second-wicket partnership of 107 runs off just 77 balls. Both Waseem and Sharafu scored fluent half-centuries, with Sharafu reaching his fifty first before Waseem brought up his 29th T20I half-century.
The UAE registered a score of 150, and some more late hits lifted their final total to 173/6 in 20 overs — the highest T20 World Cup innings ever recorded by the UAE.
Seifert and Allen batted with an intensity that was impossible to stop right from the beginning. New Zealand sped through the Powerplay, scoring 78 runs in six overs, ruthlessly putting the UAE’s fast bowlers to the sword. Overs of 20 and 22 runs were soul-destroying and eliminated any chance that the UAE had of getting back into the contest.
Both openers reached their half-centuries in no time at all, and the first 100-run partnership occurred quickly, as the ball continued to sail over the boundary time after time after time. Finn Allen was the more “subdued” of the two batters as he finished his innings with 84 runs from 50 balls, while Tim Seifert was a bull in a china shop, scoring 89 runs from only 42 balls.
–IANS
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