Preview, UAE vs PAK | Pakistan look to put Afghan setback behind and secure spot in tri-series finale

The Asia Cup dress rehearsals are drawing to a close in the UAE with the main event less than a week away. With Afghanistan pooled in a different group, the upcoming encounter between the hosts and the UAE is essentially a warm-up before they face each other again on September 17 -- or so it seemed looking at the schedule. Cut to the present, and the encounter suddenly has stakes attached to it.

For UAE, it is an opportunity to make a statement that they belong amongst the Asian elite having already defeated Bangladesh in a bilateral series. They will be well aware Pakistan are more prone to upsets than perhaps any other nation, especially when vulnerable after a defeat. Even though Afghanistan have secured their reputation as a world-class team, the loss would have hurt for Pakistan who have a much richer legacy to boast, nevermind the structural advantage over the war-torn nation that ironically has most of its players learning the details of the game in Pakistan itself. In Salman Agha Ali, they have a relatively inexperienced captain at the international stage, which is only exacerbated with the lack of senior players in the dressing room. The iron is hot and ready to strike, and the Men in Green better be beware -- they have a tri-series finale to reach and a legacy to protect.

Form Guide

United Arab Emirates have had an incredible 12 months in the shortest format of the game, winning 20 out of 27 games. It began with a tri-series win in Namibia that also involved the USA, followed by a perfect T20 World Cup preliminary qualifying campaign where they won six on the trot, and then lost just a solitary game en-route to lifting the Gulf T20I Championship. The pinnnacle came earlier this year when they defeated Bangladesh 2-1 to register a first series-win against a top-ten nation. More recently though, they fell in the final of the Pearl of Africa tournament and have lost both their games in the ongoing tri-series. 

Pakistan, meanwhile, have had a rough start under head coach Mike Hesson and captain Salman Agha Ali, winning nine and losing eight in the new era so far. This includes a 4-1 series loss in New Zealand and a first-ever bilateral defeat to Bangladesh in July, albeit they did bounce back by defeating a timid Windies side 2-1 in the United States. They begun the ongoing tri-series with convincing wins over Afghanistan and the UAE but were then battered by the former to begin the new month. 

Pakistan: L W W W L

UAE: L L L W W

UAE vs PAK Head-to-Head in T20Is

Pakistan and UAE have faced each other just twice in the shortest format. Their maiden encounter was in the 2016 Asia Cup where Pakistan cruised home to a paltry target with seven wickets to spare, while their latest encounter on August 30 saw the hosts fall 31 short of Pakistan's imposing total of 207. 

Pakistan 2 - 0 UAE

Pitch and Weather

Despite the small boundary dimensions on offer at the Sharjah Cricket Ground, a tricky surface with plenty of help for the spinners can make run-scoring a challenging task -- especially on worn surfaces. With dew not as relevant a factor in the UAE during this time of the year, batting first becomes the preferable option with the possibility of setting big totals and putting the opposition under pressure, as reflected in the decision of the captains in three out of four tri-series games so far. 

The weather is expected to be clear throughout the encounter with some clouds at the start of the game quickly dispersing as per Accuweather. The temperature is forecast to be in the mid-30s and decline steadily as the night matures.

Team News

Pakistan seem to have settled upon their desired batting combination with Faheem Ashraf as the pace all-rounder at eight and Sufiyan Muqeem as the specialist spinner, having used the same combination in all three games in the tri-series so far. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been rotated with Hasan Ali and Salman Mirza in the pace department, and the latter two are expected to fill in once again on Thursday.

UAE, meanwhile, roped in Muhammad Rohid for namesake Jawadullah in their latest encounter and are likely to continue with him after the left-arm quick scalped two. Alishan Sharafu may make his way back into the side too after missing for Harshit Kaushik against Afghanistan.

Pakistan Probable XI:  Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Salman Mirza, Sufiyan Muqeem    

UAE Probable XI: Muhammad Zohaib, Muhammad Waseem (c), Ethan D'Souza, Rahul Chopra (wk), Asif Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Dhruv Parashar, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid

Broadcasting Platforms

The tri-series involving United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Afghanistan is being digitally streamed on the Fancode app and website.