'I am very happy we have made history' - UAE captain Muhammad Waseem rejoices after beating Bangladesh 2-1

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) created history after beating Bangladesh by a 2-1 margin in the recently-concluded three-match T20I series. The stars of the series decider were UAE upcoming top order batter Alishan Sharafu and Asif Khan who formed an important fourth-wicket partnership to claim the game and the series for the team. The two put on 87 runs off just 51 deliveries, with both Sharafu (68 off 47 deliveries) and Asif Khan (41 off 26 deliveries) remaining unbeaten in the final match of the series on Wednesday, May 21.

UAE skipper and opening batter Muhammad Waseem was the player of the series, scoring 145 runs in three games at an average of 48.33. Waseem praised the performances of the players who performed, while also mentioning how the team kept their hopes alive in the dramatic series.

“(I’m) very happy they did very well throughout the series, we were not losing our hopes, and we were giving hope to everyone. We can chase every score in Sharjah, or against every team, and we are used to it here. To be honest, I'm very happy,” Waseem said.

“I'm very happy we have made history. This series means a lot to us. It's very helpful for us in the future, and I'm very happy with the performance of the boys. The way Asif (Khan) played, Alishan (Sharafu), Rahul Chopra, and the way Haider (Ali) bowled, and the other bowlers. I'm very happy with the performance of my whole team,” the UAE skipper added.

Go out there and play as many balls as possible: Sharafu

Sharafu talked about the historic win revealing the plans he had going into the match, and expressed the feelings of the team after the victory. The 22-year-old also opened up on the attitude shown by the dressing room throughout the series.

“The plan was pretty simple: to go out there and play as many balls as possible. Everything just worked out in the end, (It’s) about the strides. It's just something that I do usually, just to get myself moving and go towards the ball. But there was no specific plan for it. As soon as he (Asif) came in, it was quite simple to just keep the scoreboard ticking and look for the odd boundary, and just keep rotating strike, for starters,” Sharafu said during the post-match interview.

I'm sure everyone's pumped up (over in the dugout). Once that third game was announced, everyone was optimistic in the dressing room that we could go 2-1 up in the series, and I think everything just worked out for us after that,” Sharafu added.