Did UAE Make the Right Call by Bowling First Against Pakistan?

Dubai, Sep 17 (NationPress) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the toss and opted to field first against Pakistan in match 10 of Group A of the Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Both teams have made some changes. For Pakistan, Haris Rauf takes the place of Sufiyan Muqeem, and Khushdil Shah steps in for Faheem Ashraf.

In the UAE squad, Simranjeet Singh is in for Muhammad Jawadullah.

UAE captain Muhammad Waseem stated, "We will bowl first. Nothing special. I believe dew will have an impact. This is a crucial match for both teams. Our objective is to limit their score. We had a successful outing in Abu Dhabi and are coming in with a new strategy today. Jawadullah is out, and Simranjeet is in."

Pakistan captain Agha Salman remarked, "We preferred to bat first, honestly. The UAE is a very strong team, and we need to implement our strategies effectively for a longer duration. We have two changes: Sufiyan is out, while Haris Rauf and Khushdil Shah have been included in place of Faheem Ashraf."

Earlier, the toss was delayed by an hour, and the match is now set to start at 7:30 PM local time (9:00 PM IST).

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair Mohsin Naqvi later posted on social media: "We have instructed the Pakistan team to head to the Dubai Cricket Stadium. More updates to follow."

Initially, the PCB had prevented the team from departing for the stadium, fueling rumors about their withdrawal from the Asia Cup due to perceived bias from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after Indian players declined to shake hands with their opponents following their league match.

Before the toss, the PCB issued a statement, as reported by ESPNCricinfo, which stated, "The ICC's match referee, Andy Pycroft, has apologized to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team. Pycroft had restricted the captains of India and Pakistan from exchanging handshakes during their match. The PCB reacted strongly to Pycroft's actions, which he later described as a miscommunication. The ICC is willing to conduct an inquiry into the code of conduct violation from the September 14 match."

Playing XIs:

United Arab Emirates: Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Waseem (c), Asif Khan, Mohammad Zuhaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Rahul Chopra (wk), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh Kang, Junaid Siddique

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (c), Khushdil Shah, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf