Muhammad Waseem is the captain of the United Arab Emirates in T20Is and one of the most feared openers in Associate cricket, and he joins Balkh Zwanan for APL T20 2026 as a Gold pick from the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported US$40,000.
Pakistani-born; plays for the United Arab Emirates
Role
Right-hand opening batter
Batting
Right-hand bat
Bowling
Right-arm medium
Current APL team
Balkh Zwanan
APL debut season
2026
APL Career
Muhammad Waseem joins Balkh Zwanan as a Gold pick of the 2026 draft, signed at
the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026 for a reported US$40,000. He is
a 32-year-old right-hand opening batter who captains the United Arab Emirates
in T20Is, owns 3,371 T20I runs at a strike rate above 150, and has won the
ICC Men's Player of the Month award twice - the first UAE player ever to win
it. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim Zadran and coached by Mickey Arthur, with
Tillakaratne Dilshan as mentor, and Waseem gives them something no other side
in the league has: an opener who has hit more sixes in T20 internationals
than almost anyone in the history of the format.
He is new to this league. Waseem was 24 when the first APL season was played in
October 2018, and his international debut did not come until October 2021, so
the 2026 season is his APL debut - he was never on any of the five 2018 squads.
That makes him the opposite of his Balkh teammate Gulbadin Naib, who won the
inaugural title with Balkh Legends. The 2026 clubs are new sides and inherit
nothing from the 2018 clubs, so Waseem starts with a clean slate. The 2026
season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, with the fixture list still to
be published.
What Balkh are buying is proven powerplay hitting and leadership. Waseem has
opened for the UAE in two T20 World Cups, captained them at the 2026 edition,
and carried MI Emirates to the top of the ILT20 as their best local player four
seasons running. He has played franchise cricket in the PSL, BPL, LPL and MLC,
and he arrives in the APL as an opener in his prime - a batter who scores at
a strike rate most openers never reach, and a captain who has already led an
Associate side to wins over full members.
APL career stats
Waseem has no APL past - 2026 is his debut season, so the tables below carry
only the 2026 row until the first ball is bowled on 27 December 2026. He was
24 when the first season was played in October 2018 and his international
debut did not come until October 2021, so he was never on any of the five
2018 squads.
T20 World Cup Qualifier A final · 24 February 2022 · Al Amerat Cricket Ground, Oman
Waseem's second T20I hundred came in a final, and it took the UAE to a
World Cup. Opening against Ireland in the Qualifier A decider at Al Amerat,
he made 112 - his hundred off 59 balls, with seven fours and eight sixes -
in a 141-run opening stand with Rohan Mustafa (37 not out), the UAE's
highest T20I stand for any wicket at the time. Dropped on 10 off 20 by
Shane Getkate, who stepped over the boundary rope, Waseem made Ireland pay
in full: the UAE reached 160 for 3 and won by seven wickets, booking their
place at the T20 World Cup in Australia.
Why it mattered: a hundred in a final that sent a country
to a World Cup - the innings that put Waseem on the map.
119 vs Papua New Guinea
One Day International · 15 March 2023 · Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Nepal
His maiden ODI hundred was the fastest the UAE had ever seen. Against Papua
New Guinea at Kirtipur, Waseem made 119 off 76 balls, reaching his hundred
off 61 balls with 12 sixes and six fours, in the final series of the
2019-2023 Cricket World Cup League 2. It set a new UAE record for the
fastest ODI century - a record that lasted exactly one day, until Asif Khan
made a 41-ball hundred against the same attack. The UAE won the match, and
Waseem had announced himself in the 50-over game.
Why it mattered: his first ODI hundred, a national record
for a day - the innings that showed his power worked in 50-over cricket too.
50 vs Namibia
ICC Men's T20 World Cup · 20 October 2022 · Kardinia Park, Geelong
The UAE's first-ever win at a T20 World Cup had Waseem's fingerprints all
over it. Against Namibia at Geelong he made 50 off 41 balls at the top,
then - having not bowled in any of his previous 16 matches for the UAE -
he was handed the final over with 14 runs to defend. He held his nerve,
David Wiese was caught on the long-on boundary by Alishan Sharafu, and the
UAE won by seven runs, knocking Namibia out of the tournament and sending
the Netherlands through. Waseem was named Player of the Match.
Why it mattered: fifty with the bat, then the final over
with the ball - the all-round performance that gave the UAE their first
World Cup win.
82 vs Bangladesh
Twenty20 International · May 2025 · Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Chasing 206 against Bangladesh, Waseem played the innings of the series.
His 82 off 42 balls at the top took the UAE past a full member's total with
room to spare - the first win for the UAE over Bangladesh, and the first
time an Associate nation had ever chased more than 200 to beat a full
member. The series win that followed, 2-1, was the UAE's first T20I series
win against a full member, and Waseem was named Player of the Series and
the ICC Men's Player of the Month for May 2025.
Why it mattered: 82 off 42 in a chase of 206 - the innings
that beat a full member and won him a second ICC monthly award.
69 vs Oman
Asia Cup · 15 September 2025 · Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Five days after the UAE were bowled out for 57 by India, Waseem answered
with his best Asia Cup innings. Against Oman he made 69 off 54 balls, with
six fours and three sixes, in an 88-run opening stand with Alishan Sharafu
(51 off 38), as the UAE made 172 for 5 and won by 42 runs. During the
innings he passed 3,000 T20I runs - the first Emirati batter to do so, in
his 82nd innings, the third-fastest ever - and the innings steadied a
campaign that had started with a heavy defeat.
Why it mattered: 69 runs and a 3,000-run milestone, five
days after 57 all out - the innings that steadied the UAE's Asia Cup.
Playing style and strengths
Waseem is a right-hand opening batter built around power and intent. He stands
tall, clears his front leg, and hits through the line - the ball travels a long
way when he connects, and he connects often: 196 sixes in 99 T20Is, the
third-most in the history of the format, struck at 150.96, the highest strike
rate among the ten highest T20I run-scorers of all time. His game is not all
muscle - he is strong square of the wicket, picks length early, and his hundred
against Ireland in the 2022 qualifier showed he can build an innings when the
situation demands it. But his first instinct is attack, and it is the
powerplay where he does his damage.
What sets him apart is the combination no other opener in Associate cricket has
matched: average and strike rate together. In May 2025, when he had 2,651 T20I
runs at 40.16 and a strike rate of 156, Wisden noted that among batters with as
many T20I runs, no one had scored at a better strike rate, and only Virat Kohli
and Mohammad Rizwan averaged more. He is also a handy part-time bowler -
right-arm medium, best figures of 2 for 13 on his T20I debut - and a safe
catcher, with 76 catches in 99 T20Is. As a captain he is calm and direct, and
he has led the UAE to their biggest wins: over Bangladesh in a series, over
Namibia at a World Cup, and through two World Cup campaigns. For Balkh, he is
the tone-setter at the top: an opener who can win a game in the powerplay and
a leader who has done it before.
Records and milestones
T20I debut (cap 55) on 5 October 2021 vs Namibia at Dubai - took 2 for 13, still his best T20I bowling figures; ODI debut (cap 89) on 5 February 2022 vs Oman at Al Amerat.
First T20I hundred: 107 not out off 62 vs Ireland, Dubai, 10 October 2021 - five days after his debut.
112 vs Ireland, Al Amerat, 24 February 2022 - T20 World Cup Qualifier A final; 141-run opening stand with Rohan Mustafa, the UAE's highest T20I stand for any wicket at the time.
First player to hit 100 sixes in a calendar year in international cricket - 101 in 2023 (47 in ODIs, 54 in T20Is).
Most sixes by a T20I captain - 110, passing Rohit Sharma's 105 against Afghanistan at Sharjah on 2 September 2025; fastest to 100 T20I sixes, in 41 innings.
Third-most sixes in T20I history - 196 in 99 matches, behind Karanbir Singh (214) and Rohit Sharma (205); ninth-highest T20I run-scorer of all time, 3,371 runs at a strike rate of 150.96, the highest among the top ten.
First Emirati to 3,000 T20I runs - in his 82nd innings against Oman at the Asia Cup on 15 September 2025, the third-fastest ever.
First UAE player to win the ICC Men's Player of the Month award - April 2024; second award May 2025, after 145 runs in the T20I series win over Bangladesh.
Maiden ODI hundred: 119 off 76 vs Papua New Guinea, Kirtipur, 15 March 2023 - a 61-ball hundred, the fastest ODI century for the UAE at the time, with 12 sixes.
Fastest T10 fifty: 12 balls for Northern Warriors vs Pune Devils, 3 February 2021 - equalling the then-record held by Chris Gayle and Mohammad Shahzad.
ILT20 Blue Belt (Best UAE Player) four seasons in a row with MI Emirates; 370 runs in 13 innings in the 2025-26 season, the second-highest tally in the tournament.
Career outside APL
Muhammad Waseem was born in Mian Channu, in Pakistan's Punjab, and moved to
the UAE to pursue his cricket, qualifying to play for his adopted country in
April 2021 after meeting the ICC's three-year residency rule. He was 27 when
he made his T20I debut against Namibia at Dubai on 5 October 2021 - taking 2
for 13 with the ball - and five days later he made his first T20I hundred,
107 not out off 62 against Ireland. His ODI debut followed on 5 February 2022
against Oman at Al Amerat. In March 2023 he was appointed UAE captain,
replacing CP Rizwan, and he has led the T20I side ever since; he gave up the
ODI captaincy in late 2024, with Rahul Chopra taking over. His birth year is
listed as 1996 in some sources, including Wikipedia; the live profiles this
page follows give 12 February 1994.
His World Cup record is the spine of his career. At the 2022 T20 World Cup in
Australia he made 50 against Namibia at Geelong and bowled the final over in
the UAE's first-ever win at the tournament. At the 2026 T20 World Cup in India
he captained the side in Group D, making 66 not out off 45 against New Zealand
at Chennai - in a 107-run stand with Alishan Sharafu - and finishing with 102
runs in four matches as the UAE won once, against Canada. He also led the UAE
at the 2025 Asia Cup, where his 69 against Oman took him past 3,000 T20I runs,
five days after India had bowled the UAE out for 57.
The two ICC Player of the Month awards frame his rise. The first came in April
2024, when he led the UAE through the ACC Premier Cup and into the Asia Cup -
the first time any UAE player had won the award. The second came in May 2025,
after 145 runs in a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh at a strike rate
of 166.66, including 82 off 42 in a chase of 206 that gave the UAE their first
win over Bangladesh and their first T20I series win against a full member. In
that same month Wisden called him statistically one of the most dangerous T20
batters in the world: 2,651 T20I runs at 40.16 and a strike rate of 156.
Franchise cricket has been built around one team: MI Emirates in the ILT20. He
has won the Blue Belt as the tournament's best UAE player in all four seasons,
and in 2025-26 he finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the league with
370 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 131.67, as MI Emirates reached the
final. His best ILT20 innings came in January 2023, 86 off 44 against Desert
Vipers in a 141-run opening stand with Andre Fletcher. He has also played for
MI New York in Major League Cricket and for Dublin Guardians in August 2026.
The subcontinent leagues came later, and the returns have been mixed. In the PSL
he was called into the Multan Sultans squad as a replacement in 2021 without
playing, then in 2026 Karachi Kings bought him for PKR 1.1 crore and opened
with him alongside David Warner - 38 off 37 against Lahore Qalandars was his
best, in a stint interrupted when the Emirates Cricket Board briefly recalled
him for a domestic 50-over tournament. In the BPL he played one match for
Chattogram Challengers in 2024, making 1 off 7, then returned in 2026 with
Rajshahi Warriors and made an instant impact: 60 off 35 against Noakhali
Express, Player of the Match, with advice from Shakib Al Hasan, his MI
Emirates teammate. He has also played in the Lanka Premier League for Colombo
Strikers. The one league he has never played is the IPL - Pakistani players
are barred from it, and an ILT20 team official once said they would have
taken him there but for his nationality.
Which team does Muhammad Waseem play for in APL 2026?
Muhammad Waseem plays for Balkh Zwanan in APL T20 2026. He was picked in the Gold category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported US$40,000. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim Zadran, coached by Mickey Arthur and mentored by Tillakaratne Dilshan, and the season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE.
Did Muhammad Waseem play in the first APL season in 2018?
No. Waseem was 24 when the first APL season was played in October 2018, and his international debut did not come until October 2021, so he was never on any of the five 2018 squads. The 2026 season is his APL debut, and he joins Balkh Zwanan as a Gold pick with no APL record behind him yet.
How many T20I runs has Muhammad Waseem scored?
3,371 runs in 99 matches at an average of 36.24, with a highest score of 112, three hundreds and 26 fifties, as of November 2026. That makes him the ninth-highest run-scorer in T20I history, and his strike rate of 150.96 is the highest among the top ten. He has also hit 196 sixes, the third-most in T20Is.
What is Muhammad Waseem's highest ODI score?
119 off 76 balls against Papua New Guinea at Kirtipur, Nepal, on 15 March 2023. It was his maiden ODI hundred, reached off 61 balls with 12 sixes, and it was the fastest ODI century by a UAE batter at the time - a record that lasted one day, until Asif Khan made a 41-ball hundred.
Which other leagues has Muhammad Waseem played in?
He has played in the ILT20 for MI Emirates, the PSL for Karachi Kings in 2026, the BPL for Chattogram Challengers and Rajshahi Warriors, the Lanka Premier League for Colombo Strikers and Major League Cricket for MI New York. He has never played in the IPL - Pakistani players are barred from the tournament.
