Winless Afghanistan look to keep slim hopes alive against upbeat UAE

UAE too need to pull off a series of miracles to qualify for the next round

Hemant Brar

Feb 15, 2026, 8:19 AM • 7 hrs ago

Big picture: Slim hopes for both teams

How do you lift yourself after a soul-crushing defeat? Because Afghanistan need to do exactly that after going down to South Africa in the double Super Over in Ahmedabad. It was their second defeat in as many games, and even though they are the favourites for their remaining two group games - against UAE and Canada - their T20 World Cup campaign is hanging by the thinnest thread of hope.

Afghanistan have an 11-3 win-loss record against UAE, their opponents for Monday's day game in Delhi. But a New Zealand win over Canada the following day is enough to knock them out.

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UAE must be feeling confident after their win over Canada. It came in Delhi, where they play their remaining two group games as well. But they too rely heavily on Canada beating New Zealand. If New Zealand beat Canada, which is more likely, UAE will have to pull off a series of miracles. They will have to beat Afghanistan and then South Africa, who have been unbeaten so far. And they will have to do so by such margins that their net run rate goes above New Zealand's. That gap, at the moment, is huge.

So, how do Afghanistan and UAE proceed? Perhaps, as players often say, by taking one game at a time.

Form guide

Afghanistan LLLWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)

UAE WLLLL

In the spotlight: Ibrahim Zadran and Sohaib Khan

Ibrahim Zadran is a perfect foil for the attacking Rahmanullah Gurbaz. While the role of the anchor in T20 cricket is diminishing every second, things are different at T20 World Cups. Moreover, Zadran has upped his intent of late. Two of his four 50-plus scores since October came at a strike rate of more than 150. However, he has managed only 22 runs off as many balls in two outings so far. Afghanistan expect much more from him.

Born in Bihar, graduated from Jamia Millia Islamia and now playing for UAE, Sohaib Khan showed against Canada how destructive he can be. His 29-ball 51, laden with four fours and four sixes, turned UAE's fortunes around. But this was not the first time his hitting prowesses were on display. At the Rising Stars Asia Cup in November, he had smashed 63 off 41 balls against India A in Doha. In that game, he had taken 24 runs off eight balls against Suyash Sharma. Can he repeat those heroics on Monday?

Team news

Both teams are likely to go with unchanged XIs.

Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Gulbadin Naib, 4 Sediqullah Atal, 5 Darwish Rasooli, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

UAE (probable): 1 Aryansh Sharma (wk), 2 Muhammad Waseem (capt), 3 Alishan Sharafu, 4 Mayank Kumar, 5 Harshit Kaushik, 6 Sohaib Khan, 7 Muhammad Arfan, 8 Muhammad Farooq, 9 Haider Ali, 10 Junaid Siddique, 11 Muhammad Jawadullah

Pitch and conditions

It's a day game. So the team winning the toss may want to bowl first to take advantage of the early moisture. The weather should be sunny, and the temperature is likely to hover around 25°C.

Stats and trivia

Rashid Khan is one wicket away from becoming the first bowler to take 700 T20 wickets.

Muhammad Waseem has hit six or more sixes in a T20I innings nine times. Only Austria's Karanbir Singh (11) and West Indies' Evin Lewis (10) have done it on more occasions.

Since the start of 2024, UAE's Junaid Siddique has taken 18 wickets in the first over in T20Is, the most by any bowler as per the data ESPNcricinfo has.

Quotes

"We are definitely [disappointed]. In the last one and a half year, we worked hard to get the result of one of the first two games on our side. But sometimes it doesn't go your way... But you don't know - anything can happen. The other day Zimbabwe beat Australia, so let's see if we get a little bit chance, but more importantly, in the last two games, we have to put all the effort there."

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan on losing the first two games

"We've played with them [Afghanistan players] and against them in ILT20. And we've had a couple of bilateral and tri-series with them. So yeah, we have played them, and we have beat them before. We have cracked the code in the past, and we're backing our chances. We want to go out there and be as positive as we can."

UAE batter Alishan Sharafu on his side's chances

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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