After ICC rejects PCB plea to remove Pycroft, will Pakistan face UAE in must-win clash?

Dubai: Wedged between their own shortcomings and external distractions, Pakistan will have to lift their game by several notches to tame a tricky UAE in a Group A match to keep their Asia Cup campaign on track here on Wednesday.

ICC rejects PCB's demand to remove Andy Pycroft

The ICC on Tuesday rejected the PCB's demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of officials for the ongoing Asia Cup.

The PCB had filed a complaint with the ICC alleging that Pycroft asked Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav at the time of toss in their Asia Cup match on Sunday.

"Late last night, ICC had sent a reply to PCB stating that Pycroft won't be removed and their plea has been rejected," an ICC source told PTI.

The 69-year-old Zimbabwean is due to officiate Pakistan's final group stage game against the UAE on Wednesday.

But that is only one part of the story as Pakistan has even more pressing concerns to address on the field.

Pakistan in Asia Cup

Pakistan have one win and a defeat from two matches and are currently on the second spot with two points, ahead of UAE (2 points) on net run rate -- 1.64 against -2.03 -- but a slip-up here will show them the exit.

The seven-wicket thrashing against India has revealed a certain brittleness in this Pakistan side.

After hammering minnows Oman by a large margin, Pakistan were schooled in the modern T20 game by world champions India.

Pakistan had no answers to the guiles of spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel as the Indian pair shared five wickets among them.

The Pakistan batters were also in a knot against spinner Varun Chakravarthy.

If anything, that outing underlined the need for Pakistan's emerging prospects like Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and Hasan Nawaz to raise their game against a top quality opponent.

Pakistan vs UAE Asia Cup

The UAE game offers them a good chance to find their mojo to take their side to the Super 4s, as India have already qualified to the next stage from this group.

Similarly, Pakistan bowlers struggled against the aggression and skills of Indian batters as Abhishek Sharma took Shaheen Shah Afridi to the cleaners before skipper Suryakumar Yadav applied the finishing touches with customary flourish.

Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed did reasonably well, but the likes of Mohammad Nawaz, touted as the world's best spinner by coach Mike Hesson, and Sufiyan Muqeem will have to find a higher gear in this match.

While the UAE is certainly not India in cricketing terms, they can spring a surprise on their day.

They appeared to have recovered from the shellacking against India with a facile 42-run win over Oman.

Batters like skipper Mohammed Waseem and Alishan Sharafu are well experienced in the T20 format, and they will be eager to prey on a distracted Pakistan unit.

In bowling, the UAE have experienced Junaid Siddique, who can be quite lively, and the parsimonious left-arm spinner Haider Ali, but he will require more support from fellow tweakers Dhruv Parashar and Harshit Kaushik.

Squads: Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.

United Arab Emirates: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra, Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Saghir Khan.

Match starts at 8 pm IST.