Two teams from the same home to fight it out

*Image: Courtesy Star Sports

When Pakistan meets United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, it will be as if players from same group playing with different names. Pakistan has been using UAE for their home games in the recent past. Thus it would have allowed players from both the teams to play together. To add to that more than half of UAE squad have Pakistani origin. Players from both the teams would be familiar with each other. 

One interesting fact associated with this match would be that Mohammad Tauquir and Misbah-ul-Haq are the two oldest captains in this tournament. UAE also has the oldest player of the tournament in Khurram Khan. Whether Younis Khan, another veteran, will find a place in the playing XI or not will be of interest to the followers.

In its first two matches, UAE posted decent total on the board and fell just short of defending those totals against both Zimbabwe and Ireland. They have good seamers in Javed, Naveed and Guruge. They have been bowling impressive upfront but towards the end they lose the intensity and accuracy. This key problem has to be addressed when they face Pakistan. In Mohammad Tauquir, they have a very good off-spinner who has the ability to keep it tight in the middle overs. But then the fifth bowler is a problem, Krishna Chandra and Rohan Mustafa have not been very impressive. In fact, they can bring in spinner Nasir Aziz in place of Rohan Mustafa.

Now coming to the third match which was against India, would not have done their confidence any good. They would have experienced the real difference between a Zimbabwe or Ireland and in form India. It was a bit ironic that it was Ashwin's spin that caused them trouble. Their batsmen could not handle the additional bounce in WACA. Their batting simply crumbled.

Shaiman Anwar has been their hero in this tournament. He is their top scorer with a century and a half century. The other batsman on whom they can depend on is the veteran Khurram Khan. Other batsmen have not been consistent. The lower order does wag, but cannot be relied on. So, the ideal situation for the UAE in tomorrow's game would be to bat first and post at least something beyond 270-280. They will have to play the Pakistani seamers cautiously. Afridi seems not to be in his best and may not be lethal but for UAE's lack of experience he could still pose problem.

If UAE bowls first, which they have not done in the tournament so far, they have to suffocate Pakistani batting initially and also get wickets on regular basis to keep pressure on them. Most importantly, they have to dismiss Misbah early. If Misbah drops an anchor, then Pakistan has high probability of reaching big score. Zimbabwe has shown that Pakistan can be restricted to a sub 250 score. If UAE is able to do that then they can fancy their chance. In batting, then they will have to keep wickets till 35 overs and take the offensive path post that.

Pakistan after two dismal initial performances against India and West Indies, must have drawn some confidence from their victory against Zimbabwe. They would not have seen Zimbabwe as a threat to begin with but having been restricted to 235, coming back and winning the match by 20 runs would have given confidence to their bowling. But the biggest enemy for Pakistan is its inconsistency. To add to that. right from the start of the tournament, they have not been able to sort out the right combination for the team. Their openers have not been in the great form. Wicket-keeping has been a problem. After playing Younis Khan in the first two games in different positions, they dropped him in the third. It seems he has become their liability. Having failed to hit the right combination, they can use the match against UAE to further experiment with their XI. Wicket-keeper Sarfaraz could come in place of Nasir Jamshed or Ahmed Shahzad. Spinner Yasir Shah could come in for Rahat Ali, considering spin troubled UAE against India. If they win the toss, they should opt to bat first. If at all something looks normal in their line up, it is their bowling. Whatever total that they post, they should be in a position to defend. So far UAE has revolved around Shaiman Anwar, if they could get him cheap, they could restrict UAE.

For this game, without any doubt, Pakistan starts favourite. For Pakistan, it is not just the two point but they have to look this as an opportunity to boost their net run rate as well. With the current form their batting line up is in, even if they bat first, it is unlikely that they will go beyond 300. UAE should take advantage of this situation. Pakistan will be looking at improving the net run rate, hence there is a possibility that the Pakistani batsmen may go after them and that makes them more vulnerable. When UAE is batting, they have to target batting for the full 50 overs and in case they are chasing, take the chase as close as possible to the target. These approach will add pressure on the volatile Pakistani team.

My prediction for tomorrow is that this match will be as close as Pakistan v Zimbabwe. If UAE bats first, it could also get to UAE v Zimbabwe like situation. I see it as 55-45 tilted in favour of Pakistan, just because of lack of experience in UAE ranks.