The United Arab Emirates: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are all set to make their third appearance in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup when they open their Group D campaign against New Zealand in Chennai on Tuesday evening.The Gulf nation qualified for the mega event after finishing third in the Asia-EAP regional qualifiers and marked their return to the tournament for the first time since 2022, where they secured their maiden T20 World Cup victory over Namibia.
Right-handed batter Alishan Sharafu has been in strong form since the last T20 World Cup in 2024, accumulating 1,105 runs in 37 innings at an average of 32.5 and a strike rate of 134. In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Sharafu talks about his batting, the UAE’s aims in the tournament, and the influence of captain Muhammad Waseem and head coach, former India opener Lalchand Rajput.
Q. You’ve been in exceptional form post-2024, scoring over 1,000 runs with 10 fifty-plus scores. What’s clicked for you during this period, and how do you maintain that consistency?
A. I’m just glad that I’ve been able to score a few runs, and it’s been fun so far batting at the top for UAE in T20Is, and I’m glad that I’ve had a couple of good games and helped the team in winning games, especially in important tournaments like the Asia Cup qualifiers and the T20 World Cup qualifiers. So, that’s been fun, and hopefully, it keeps going well.
Q. Your strike rate against pace (147) is significantly better than against spin (118). What specific work are you doing to improve your game against spinners ahead of playing in Indian conditions?
A. About the strike rate, yes, I do enjoy playing a bit of pace early on when I go in to bat in the innings, and I fancy taking my chances against the fast bowlers in the power play, and then obviously in the middle overs, that’s the time where you have to consolidate and play around with the other batters. So, I do enjoy playing spin and taking my chances against spin, but if I have to say, then I’ll probably say that I enjoy playing pace a little bit more.
Q. Playing alongside and against some of the world’s best in the ILT20 – which players have you learnt the most from, and what specific aspects of their game have you tried to incorporate into yours?
A. Yes, ILT20 has been a massive platform for all of us UAE cricketers, and I’ve been especially lucky enough. I’ve been playing for the Knight Riders for the last three years, and they’ve fully trusted in what I do, and I’m grateful for the opportunities they’ve given.
I’ve played every single game for them, and fortunately enough, I’ve done decently well for them. So, that experience has been invaluable, and I’ve fully enjoyed my time over there, and the environment there, and getting to spend quality time with the world-class cricketers there has been quite a good experience.
Q. You’ve always been a top-order batter, but you’re now adjusting to middle-order responsibilities as well. How challenging has that transition been, and what’s the biggest difference in mindset between the two roles?
A. Yes, I’ve always batted at the top, but it was in ILT20 where I first started batting in the middle order, and I enjoyed that challenge quite a bit and something different and new. But you have to learn to adapt to different situations and roles in the team.
So I’m glad that I had a bit of experience doing that and in franchise cricket. Now that I’ve sort of started doing a similar role for the UAE, I hope I can channel my batting in the same frequency and hopefully consolidate in the middle overs and try and bat as deep as possible.
Q. Can you talk us through how you developed your power-hitting game? Was it natural ability or hours of specific training?
A. That’s been the plan, especially going into this World Cup and in recent times. Power hitting, yes, I’ve always tried to incorporate an aggressive brand of cricket. Growing up like every other kid, I loved watching people hit sixes and obviously hit sixes myself too. So it was something that I don’t know if it was natural or yes, I’ve worked a bit towards specifics for power hitting. But I’ve always enjoyed that brand of cricket.
Q. You’ve only batted once in your previous World Cup appearance. How much are you looking forward to making a bigger impact this time around?
A. Yes, at the last World Cup, I only played the last game, which we won against Namibia, and that was a special experience, making my first appearance at a World Cup. This time around, it’s a different bunch of players, a different team and a different role too. I’m quite looking forward to this one and wherever I can contribute to making the team win. I’d be glad, and hopefully I can put my hand up and help the UAE win a few games here.
Q. The UAE have never progressed past the group stage. Realistically, what does success look like for this team at this World Cup?
A. Yes, the last World Cup, like I said, was the first time we marked our first World Cup victory. So, you always want to do better than what you did last time. Hopefully we win a few games this time, and you never know, if we win a couple of games, we have a pretty good shot at making it into the next round. So obviously the mindset has to be positive, and that’s what we’re going to collectively aim for as a team.
So hopefully we have a couple of good games, and you never know on the day. It’s T20 cricket, and if we go out there and express ourselves and play a positive brand of cricket, I’m pretty confident that if we do that, we can change things and go a long way in the tournament.
Q. What’s it like being part of a UAE team with players from different cultural backgrounds? How does that diversity strengthen the group? Also, a word on support from Captain Waseem and Coach Rajput.
A. Yes, I think that’s one thing about our team: we’ve got people from different backgrounds; we’ve got a diverse bunch of players, and I’m quite happy with how gelled we are as a team, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time where we’ve thought that, ‘Oh, this person’s from here,’ or ‘This person’s from this background,’ because we’ve pretty much played with each other all our lives in the UAE, and I think we’re really comfortable with each other, and it’s a really good environment.
It’s been fun so far, and hopefully we have a few good knocks at this World Cup, and obviously our coach too; he’s always been big on preparing really hard. It becomes a lot easier when you go out there into a match. I’m really glad to have these people around, and a huge thanks to both of them for all the support, and I quite enjoy being around them.
Article Source: IANS