Can UAE and Nepal qualify for 2023 Cricket World Cup in India?

After a six-month break, the United Arab Emirates will return to focus as they try to qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup this week.

They will play 10 one-day internationals over the next month, starting against Namibia in Dubai on Thursday.

What is it?

Cricket World Cup League 2 is part of a long and winding qualifying process for the main event, which will be held in India in October and November.

There are seven teams. The top three advance directly to the World Cup qualifiers, where the last two places in the 10-team World Cup will be decided.

The final event will be played in Zimbabwe in June and July and will also feature 10 teams.

The remaining four teams in League 2 still have another chance to reach the qualifiers.

They will take part in a replay in Namibia at the end of March along with Canada and Jersey from the third tier Challenge League.

The top two teams from the playoffs in Namibia advance to the qualifiers.

What has been decided so far?

Unsurprisingly, given its huge span – the competition began in August 2019 – Ligue 2 has seen a lot of variation.

Scotland have been confirmed as champions despite losing to Nepal in their last match on Tuesday.

Oman – who played their 36 games eight months ago – are second, with both top two getting a place in the final qualifier in Zimbabwe.

That means Namibia, the United Arab Emirates and Nepal are still in contention for third place, with the United States and PNG confirmed in the qualifying playoffs.

How is the UAE doing?

The national team last played in League 2 in August, when they lost three matches in Scotland and one was abandoned in the tri-series.

It was a great tour in UAE. In response, Ahmed Raza – who had a 66 per cent win record as captain – was replaced by CP Rizwan.

Rizwan received his baptism by fire when the UAE lost their first match to Kuwait and ultimately failed to qualify for the Asian Cup.

However, he oversaw the UAE’s first win in the T20 World Cup and just last weekend’s thrashing of Afghanistan.

These results were all in the T20 format. The only 50-over matches under his watch were the 2-1 series defeat against Nepal in Kathmandu – which might be prescient given what was to come.

Who is their opposition?

The three teams competing for the third qualifying spot are all masters of their own destiny to a greater or lesser extent, as they have opposite matches coming up.

UAE has scheduled 10 ODIs and 21 ODIs in two different countries.

They start this week with two matches against Namibia, which was postponed from 2021 when the tri-series with Oman was also suspended due to the discovery of an omicron variant of Covid-19 in South Africa.

It will be followed by a back-to-back tri-series against Nepal and PNG. The first will be held in Dubai, albeit a nominal home series for PNG, before the same sides travel to Kathmandu for the final series of the competition.

Who is the form team?

Undoubtedly Nepal. Namibia looked set to take third place in the table but have stalled of late, losing all four matches on tour in Kathmandu this month.

Nepal, on the other hand, has changed since the arrival of new coach Monty Desai, who was previously the batting consultant for the United Arab Emirates.

They won all four of their matches in impressive fashion against Namibia and Scotland this month, giving them renewed hope of reaching the third qualifying spot.

Namibia’s stutter has also given hope to the UAE’s campaign. They know that their fate is once again in their own hands.

The national team will begin their final push 10 points – or five wins – behind Namibia and one ahead of Nepal, who have played two more games than the United Arab Emirates.

UAE furniture

Thursday 23 February Dubai – United Arab Emirates v Namibia

Saturday 25 February Dubai – UAE v Namibia

Tuesday 28 February Dubai – UAE v PNG

Thursday 2nd March Dubai – UAE v Nepal

Sunday March 5 Dubai – UAE v PNG

Saturday 6th March Dubai – UAE v Nepal

Friday, March 10, Kathmandu – UAE v PNG

Sunday, March 12, Kathmandu – Nepal vs UAE

Wednesday 15th March Kathmandu – PNG v UAE

Thursday March 16, Kathmandu – Nepal v UAE

Where to watch the matches?

All matches are broadcast live and free of charge icc.tv

The United Arab Emirates team will face Namibia

CP Rizwan (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Vriitya Aravind, Alishan Sharafu, Chirag Suri, Rohan Mustafa, Rahul Bhatia, Hazrat Bilal, Aayan Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Sabir Ali and Asif Khan.

Updated: February 21, 2023 at 11:43 am