For someone who famously hit a blistering 146 off 42 balls in a T10 match at Ajman, it's not surprising that Alishan Sharafu's biggest joy in life is hitting sixes.

But the Kerala-born UAE batsman has added another dimension to his game - he can now also play the patient game to construct an innings and bail his team out of difficult positions.

Sharafu's newfound ability was on display in the UAE's first game against Qatar in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia & EAP Qualifier at Al Amarat, Oman, on Wednesday.

Having restricted Qatar to 118 for 8, thanks to impressive bowling performances from Muhammad Rohid (4-1-13-2) and Zahid Ali (3-0-27-2), the UAE were struggling at 3/43 in the 10th over of their chase.

But Sharafu, who walked into bat at 16 for one, produced a fantastic unbeaten 51 off 42 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes).

The 22-year-old rose to the challenge, dragging the team over the line with an unbroken 66-run partnership with Harshit Kaushik (37 not out off 20 balls, 3 sixes).

The seven-wicket win was important for the UAE in the nine-team qualifying tournament for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

“I am very happy that we started off the tournament with a win. In these sorts of qualifying tournaments, it is so important to win the first few matches so you have a cushion later on,” Sharafu told the Khaleej Times.

Sharafu, who scored a brilliant 68 against Pakistan in the Sharjah tri-series last month, is also happy with how he is evolving as a batsman.

“I always love playing aggressive cricket, but you have to adapt to different conditions. Against Qatar, I was batting at number three, and the plan was to bat as deep as possible,” he said.

“I waited for the balls that I could put away for the boundary. But other than that, I kept rotating the strike."

The UAE team will hope to see many more composed knocks from Sharafu, who has already played 57 T20Is and 24 ODIs.

"It's something that I have been working on recently because you don't get pitches every day where it's easy to play your shots," he said.

"I think going forward, I will try to focus on playing according to situations more.”

The UAE will take on Malaysia in their final Group A game on Friday.

“I am very happy with the win, and hopefully we get another win and find ourselves in the Super Six,” said Sharafu who is hoping to help the UAE earn a slot at the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Group B of the tournament features Nepal, Kuwait and Japan, and Group C has Oman, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Six.

The top three teams in the Super Six will qualify for next year's T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka.

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