dubai
\nThere may not have been handshakes in Pakistan\u2019s most recent game at the Asia Cup, but in the one coming up, there will certainly be a goodbye.
\nOne of the two teams\u2013either UAE or two-time champions Pakistan\u2013will be eliminated on Wednesday. Both sides beat Oman comfortably and lost to India heavily, making their fixture in Dubai a knockout game: the winner joins India in the Super Four, while the loser exits.
\nPakistan are favoured to win, having beaten UAE twice over the past fortnight, during the recent tri-series in Sharjah. However, there were moments in both those games where UAE appeared to have the upper hand, and it was their inability to sustain these sparks that separated the Associate team from the Full Member one.
\nPakistan have also had consistency issues. Against India on Sunday, they had what their coach Mike Hesson called a bad day. But there is a suspicion that Pakistan might have become flat-track bullies. They have racked up wins against inferior opposition over the past few months, but were outmatched against India from the first ball. Questions have intensified since about whether their positive results against weaker oppositions reflect an uptick in quality, or are just a reflection of their kind schedule.
\nEither way, Pakistan should have enough skill and power to defeat UAE. Their slower bowlers might be what separates the two sides: Pakistan have played two wristspinners, as well as Saim Ayub and Mohammad Nawaz, in each of their previous two fixtures, as well as the final of the recent tri-series. The good news for them is they appear to have settled on an eleven that should see the job through with little fuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
dubai There may not have been handshakes in Pakistan\u2019s most recent game at the Asia Cup, but in the one coming up, there will certainly be a goodbye. One of the two teams\u2013either UAE or two-time champions Pakistan\u2013will be eliminated on Wednesday. Both sides beat Oman comfortably and lost to India heavily, making their fixture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-503298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n