Expectations high for UAE at U19 Women's T20 World Cup

Abu Dhabi: Expectations are high in the UAE camp ahead of their first appearance at the inaugural ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa next month.

The UAE named their 15-player squad for the tournament on Saturday, with wicket-keeper batter Theertha Satish to lead a team that is coached by former Hong Kong all-rounder Najeeb Amar.

UAE qualified for the U19 T20 World Cup with a dominant five-match clean-sweep of the Asia qualifiers earlier this year and managed to pick up a victory over Malaysia at the recent Women's Asia Cup in Bangladesh, ICC reported.

The Emirati side will commence their U19 T20 World Cup campaign against Scotland in Benoni on January 14, before difficult clashes against India (January 16) and hosts South Africa (January 18) rounding out their three group matches.

A top three finish in that group will be enough for UAE to progress through to the Super Six stage of the event and Najeeb believes that is a more than realistic goal.

"UAE women have enjoyed a very successful 2022, and through these successes we are now part of history by competing in the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup," he said.

"Our target is to compete to the best of our abilities, build on those abilities and progress through our group matches to the top three (and) the Super Six," Najeeb added.

UAE squad: Theertha Satish (c), Vaishnave Mahesh, Samaira Dharnidharka, Lavanya Keny, Sanchin Singh, Rinitha Rajith, Induja Nandakumar, Siya Gokhale, Mahika Gaur, Avni Sunil Patil, Archana Supriya, Rishitha Rajith, Geethika Jyothis, Sanjana Ramesh, Ishitha Zahra. (UNI)