The ICC has confirmed the Event Technical Committee (ETC) of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 has approved Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai and Aftab Alam to replace the injured Noor Ali Zadran and Shahpoor Zadran in the Afghanistan squad.

The ETC has also confirmed Andrew Poynter to replace the injured John Mooney in the Ireland squad. The confirmation was conveyed to the Afghanistan and Ireland squads on behalf of the committee on Monday (19 March).

Noor suffered a tear to his left shoulder muscle while Shahpoor has inflammation to his right knee – both players were injured during Afghanistan's six-wicket win over Papua New Guinea on 13 March.

Mooney suffered a torn hamstring during Ireland's 17-run victory over Scotland yesterday (18 March) at the Dubai Sports City International Cricket Stadium.

Any injury or illness-based replacement requires a written submission to the ETC along with a diagnosis from a medical practitioner as to the extent of the injury or illness.

Once replaced, a player may not return to the squad save as an approved subsequent replacement for another injured or ill player. Stanikzai is a 24-year-old right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler; he replaces the 23-year-old Noor who is also a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler.

Aftab is a 21-year-old who is right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman and he replaces the 24-year-old fast bowler Shahpoor who is a left-arm bowler.

Ireland's 30-year-old all-rounder Mooney is being replaced with Poynter who is a 24-year-old a right-handed batsman.

As with all players in the tournament, the eligibility of a replacement player is subject to approval by the ICC before that player can be officially added to the squad.

The ETC of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 in this case was made up of Tim Anderson (Chair – ICC Global Development Manager), Edward Fitzgibbon (ICC Development Events Manager), David Jukes (ICC Match Referee), Mazhar Khan (Emirates Cricket Board Representative) Richard Done (ICC High Performance Manager – ICC Representative).