The cricket team of the United Arab Emirates sustained a huge blow a day before their match against New Zealand in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The Emirates Cricket Board released their batter Muhammad Zohaib ahead of the match for disciplinary reasons.
On February 9, it was reported that Muhammad Zohaib is no longer a part of the UAE cricket team for the T20 World Cup 2026. He will return home as the cricket board decides to release him from the main squad.
UAE is all set to face New Zealand
On Tuesday (February 10), the UAE will start their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign, where they will face a strong New Zealand team. It will be their first World Cup fixture since 2022.
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Despite the setback, the UAE team might be going to miss the 22-year-old, as he is far away from being called an in-form cricketer. In both bat and ball, Muhammad Zohaib struggled to showcase his talent for the national cricket team, despite getting repeated chances.
According to the stats, Zohaib made his debut for UAE in May 2025. Since then, he has played 16 T20Is and scored 303 runs at an average of only 20.20 and a strike rate of 103.76.
The captain looked confident despite the setback
Ahead of their match against New Zealand, the UAE captain Muhammad Waseem highlighted his team’s unity and preparation. He believes that with a balanced squad and quality from India and Pakistan origin, they can put on a good show against a quality Kiwi side.
It is worth mentioning that the UAE successfully outclassed New Zealand once back in 2022. From this match, they can get some much-needed confidence ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 fixture. In place of Zohaib, 21-year-old Aryansh Sharma is expected to form a pair with the skipper.
Plan to trick New Zealand
“Our strategy is very simple. We beat them before in the UAE, but this time it’s a different venue, a different tournament, a different ground, and a different game also. So we came up with another plan right now,” Waseem said.
“So yes, they are a good team and have experience also. But we work very well, and we have prepared ourselves like a champion team. We will try to play good cricket against them tomorrow,” he further added.
The New Zealand vs UAE T20 World Cup 2026 match will be held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai at 3 PM. The match is expected to be played on a red soil pitch, which will be very challenging for the UAE cricket team, as they are not habituated to this kind of nature of a surface.
New Zealand, in their previous match, claimed a crucial victory over Afghanistan by 5 wickets. They will be on the ground tomorrow to continue the winning momentum.
