External distractions, own failings worry Pakistan in crucial Asia Cup match against UAE

Dubai: Wedged between their own shortcomings and external distractions, Pakistan will have to lift their game by several notches to tame a tricky UAE in a Group A match to keep their Asia Cup campaign on track here on Wednesday.

In the aftermath of the 'Handshake Gate' against India on Monday, the PCB has sought the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft, and as per reports in the Pakistani media the country has threatened to pull out of the tournament if the Zimbabwean is not expelled.

Pycroft is scheduled to officiate as match referee during Pakistan's final league game of the tournament.

While the whole move is more administrative in nature and highly unlikely to materialise, the players will find it tough to cocoon themselves from the surrounding noise.

But that is only one part of the story as Pakistan has even more pressing concerns to address on the field.

Pakistan have one win and a defeat from two matches and are currently on the second spot with two points, ahead of UAE (2 points) on net run rate -- 1.64 against -2.03 -- but a slip-up here will show them the exit.

The seven-wicket thrashing against India has revealed a certain brittleness in this Pakistan side.

After hammering minnows Oman by a large margin, Pakistan were schooled in the modern T20 game by world champions India.

Pakistan had no answers to the guiles of spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel as the Indian pair shared five wickets among them.

The Pakistan batters were also in a knot against spinner Varun Chakravarthy.

If anything, that outing underlined the need for Pakistan's emerging prospects like Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and Hasan Nawaz to raise their game against a top quality opponent.

The UAE game offers them a good chance to find their mojo to take their side to the Super 4s, as India have already qualified to the next stage from this group.

Similarly, Pakistan bowlers struggled against the aggression and skills of Indian batters as Abhishek Sharma took Shaheen Shah Afridi to the cleaners before skipper Suryakumar Yadav applied the finishing touches with customary flourish.

Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed did reasonably well, but the likes of Mohammad Nawaz, touted as the world's best spinner by coach Mike Hesson, and Sufiyan Muqeem will have to find a higher gear in this match.

While the UAE is certainly not India in cricketing terms, they can spring a surprise on their day.

They appeared to have recovered from the shellacking against India with a facile 42-run win over Oman.

Batters like skipper Mohammed Waseem and Alishan Sharafu are well experienced in the T20 format, and they will be eager to prey on a distracted Pakistan unit.

In bowling, the UAE have experienced Junaid Siddique, who can be quite lively, and the parsimonious left-arm spinner Haider Ali, but he will require more support from fellow tweakers Dhruv Parashar and Harshit Kaushik.

Squads: Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.

United Arab Emirates: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra, Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Saghir Khan.

Match starts at 8pm IST.