Pakistan goes into Sunday with momentum and obvious batting fears for the blockbuster Super Four match with India. Salman Ali Agha, the skipper of the UAE, confessed after Wednesday that they had to improve their middle-order performance to defeat the arch-rivals during the next round of the Asia Cup.
The 50 of Fakhar Zaman was helping at the top, but Pakistan had fallen to 110/7 when Shaheen Afridi came in to save them with a late cameo of 146/9. The lack of form of Opener Saim Ayub persisted, with his third successive duck causing more concern over continuity. Salman admitted, “We have done the job, but we still have to work on our batting in the middle order. That is one of our concerns, and we are trying to counter that.”
Pakistan’s bowling is, however, its strength, and Afridi and Saim Ayub have come to the rescue at the right time. Salman complimented the strength of his team and claimed that they are ready to play India: We are ready to take any challenge, and if we play as we have in recent months, we will be good with any team.
Political tensions were still simmering as a result of the last meeting, and ended with a sniff in the air at a handshake and drama involving the referee; the cricket itself is going to be no less hot. In the case of Pakistan, the batting problem might be the key to converting the rivalry pressure into a win.
