Daijiworld Media Network

Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, Feb 29: Welcome all to another evening of the Asia Cup. Tonight will see Pakistan take on the supposed 'whipping boys' of the tournament in UAE, their first encounter in the T20 format. There is a sense of overwhelming formality about this one. Pakistan will take the field, their pacers will fire, and they will brush aside UAE's challenge easily and notch up their first win on the board. Simple. But then today is the day when Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar. Don't think stars have been aligned better in over 1000 years for odds-bucking. Only that UAE's batsmen haven't offered much in their previous two encounters to inspire that sort of hope.

Pitch report: "As we are progressing, they are starting to shave the grass off the pitches. The curators haven't had the time to water them much as usually happens in a T20 tourney. It makes for batsmen having to think offering a bit for the pacers and spinners. Think it's a 150 pitch," sums up Dean Jones.

Don't discount the fact that UAE have fought all the way to be here. They scraped through a qualifying phase in which Afghanistan were primed to emerge victorious. But UAE weren't there to make up the numbers. In the very first match of those qualifiers itself, they beat Afghanistan to send out a message and then went on to win everything. No one can question their place here. Now to go one step ahead and make a massive impression. The toss isn't far away.

There isn't much delight in defeat. Ask anyone going around. No matter how well you bowled, how badly you fought, how you never gave up, nothing matters. But there was something about Pakistan's loss to India the other night. Something which got the world talking. An emotion which can only be aroused by a fast bowler. The prodigy, the disgraced, the redeemed - Mohammad Amir. If you saw it, and your jaws didn't separate with awe, this sport isn't for you. Will we see another special from the Wasim Akram heir-in-waiting? I would shudder at that thought if I was a UAE batsman.

United Arab Emirates have won the toss and have opted to bat

Afridi: "Don't want to repeat the performance from the last game. Seniors need to take responsibility in the batting. Not taking much pressure, can't underestimate UAE. Wahab Riaz is resting and Nawaz is given a game."

Javed: "We'll bat first. Last couple of games we went the other way round and couldn't make it, so let's see what happens. Would be a good experience for our side. We'll play our normal game and hopefully we can get around 120-130 and the bowlers will back us. Need our batsmen to step up on the big stage. One change in the form of Usman Mushtaq who steps in for Saqlain Haider."

 Teams:

United Arab Emirates (Playing XI): Rohan Mustafa, Muhammad Kaleem, Mohammad Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Swapnil Patil(w), Muhammad Usman, Amjad Javed(c), Fahad Tariq, Usman Mushtaq, Ahmed Raza, Mohammad Naveed

Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Shahid Afridi(c), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan.