'Want to be better than yesterday' - Sharafu becomes UAE's man for all situations

Alishan Sharafu is only 23, but he has already become UAE's man for all situations. The last time he was in action on the big stage, in the 2025 Asia Cup, he opened the batting and picked off Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel for boundaries during his cameo. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, he has been entrusted with a slightly different responsibility.

Sharafu and his captain Muhammad Waseem had forged an explosive opening combination for UAE, but the team management decided to break them up to shepherd an otherwise fragile middle order. While Waseem starts on fifth gear, and often stays there, Sharafu has been identified as a batter who can bat in different gears.

"He is now a senior player in the team," Waseem said of Sharafu on the eve of UAE's opening match against New Zealand in Chennai. "We are looking for the best combination in the batting line-up and I think he suits No. 3 [position or middle order]. Aryansh [the new opener] is also in a good nick now."

Sharafu is no stranger to batting in the middle order, having performed the role for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. He has been the best middle-order batter among locals in the ILT20, with 392 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of just under 121. That strike rate may not be comparable with the likes of elite ILT20 middle-order batters such as Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer, but Sharafu showed innings-building skills, which was of interest for UAE too.

"I enjoy playing pace early on in my innings but this [middle-order role] was something I started during my second season when I started playing for ADKR," Sharafu said after UAE's warm-up fixture against Italy in Chennai on Friday. "I had some sort of experience at ADKR, so it was nice to translate that into the UAE set-up. You gotta do what the team needs you to do. So, I'm just trying to adapt to the change. We had a conversation and it got to a situation where the team required it and I'm happy to put the team ahead of myself."

Picking the brains of Liam Livingstone at ADKR also helped him ease into the new role for UAE. "We've got a very good batting order at ADKR," Sharafu said. "Runs pretty much flow both sides [when you bat with Livingstone]. We've had some chats on how to go about certain situations, conditions and bowlers.

"One thing I picked up from him was that there's always a lot more time than you think even in T20. So, it's just a matter of giving yourself the best chance and probably just a couple of boundaries can change the dynamic of the game. A lot of work has been put in behind the scenes for range-hitting and playing spin. So, I'm working on it and you just want to be better than what you were yesterday."

UAE's batting fell away during the warm-ups - they were limited to 145 for 6 by Nepal and then 81 all out against Italy - but Sharafu backs them to regroup in the tournament proper.

"Yes, we haven't clicked as a batting unit yet but we have the firepower," he said. "We have chased 200 in the past and we've played against some quality opposition in the last one year like India and Pakistan and some other bigger teams, so on the day if it requires for us to chase...[we can get the job done]."

Sharafu himself got the job done for UAE in a T20I series decider against Bangladesh in Sharjah, his unbeaten 68 off 47 balls from No. 3 sewing up a chase of 163 for a rare bilateral series win against a Test-playing nation.

"That was a tough situation against Bangladesh and yeah we had a medium target of 160-odd to chase and we lost a couple of wickets early," Sharafu said. "Again, that was when I realised that you're probably better off giving yourself a little more time than going at it when you walk into bat. So, it worked out on the day and we were very happy we ended up winning that decider."

Sharafu is eager to produce more such finishing acts and a maiden T20 century in the World Cup.

"Whatever opportunities I get, I want to help the team to get over the line," Sharafu said. "But if I have to manifest something, it would probably be getting my first T20 hundred at the World Cup but on the day whatever happens you have to adapt and hope it's the best."

The prospect of playing a World Cup in the country of his birth is also a "surreal feeling" for Sharafu whose first cricketing memory is the 2011 World Cup, which India won. Sharafu fell in love with the game in Kerala when he would take trips from Dubai in the summers.

"I've been looking forward to the World Cup here since the moment we qualified," he said. "My parents can't travel because my younger brother has his boards back home... unless it's a surprise! Hopefully, UAE have a good time here."

UAE have an almighty task ahead of them in a group of death, which includes title-contenders New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan. Their chances of having a good time may be linked to the chances of their most reliable batter having a good time in the middle.