Pakistan’s unpredictability hits new heights as UAE plays perfect hosts

By K.R. Nayar
From Dubai International Stadium 

Pakistan lifted their reputation of being the most unpredictable team to greater heights by remaining unpredictable even about playing in the match against UAE at the scheduled start time of the game. There are days when they turn up and play like champions, and on some days they lose easily even to a weak team. On Wednesday, they failed to turn up at the scheduled start time, protesting and seeking the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft, who, they believed, had orchestrated the no-handshake incident in the India match.

 

UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem watch Pakistan skipper Salman Agha toss after his team's long wait. Photo: ACC

UAE sacrifice knock-out entry

 

The UAE team arrived at the stadium on time, went on with their warm-up exercises, and waited for the Pakistan team to arrive. When this reporter asked UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem as to why his team did not appeal for a walkover, he said his team had come to play, and that they had decided to wait as per the request from the authorities. Would any Test-playing country have waited and remained sporting enough to sacrifice their opportunity to play in the knock-out stage? The only answer is that UAE played good hosts, like waiting for a guest who turns up late for dinner, without expressing their displeasure.

 

Match referee Andy Pycroft (fourth from left) silently conduct the toss. Photo: ACC

Dubai Police guides team through peak traffic

 The Pakistan team left for the match only after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi gave them the go ahead, and by that time it was peak traffic on the roads. Thanks to Dubai Police, they ensured that the team bus, like an ambulance with a critically ill patient, waded through the traffic using their deafening siren to reach on time for the toss and a 7.30 pm start. Three days ago, there was a huge traffic jam before the Indian team’s practice session at the ICC Academy. Dubai Police steered the team bus with their loud siren, making way for the players past this reporter, who was also stuck in the jam for 40 minutes.

 

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi addresses a press conference in Lahore flanked by former chairman Najam Sethi and former Test star Rameez Raja. Photo: PCB

UAE deserved a thanks tweet

 

The sad part was that the UAE team had to do a second warm-up, this time being sure that the world’s most unpredictable team might arrive for the match. Naqvi tweeted that he had asked the team to depart for the stadium but forgot that, as a matter of courtesy, he should also have tweeted a thanks to the UAE team for their patience. The PCB should remember that just as batters are timed out when they don’t reach the batting crease following the fall of a wicket, the whole team could have been timed out. Bangladesh once gained the reputation of getting Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews out — timed out — when he’d delayed reaching the crease after his helmet strap broke and he took time to get another one. Pakistan was aware that UAE was not Bangladesh.

 

UAE’s Singh and Siddique

 

India continued to haunt Pakistan in the match against UAE too. UAE’s left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh, who grew up training at the Mohali Stadium in Punjab, bagged three wickets for 26 runs. Everyone was keen to see whether the Pakistan players would shake hands with Singh after the match, and they did. UAE’s Pakistan-born Junaid Siddique stood out with four wickets for 18 runs. He had also bagged 4 for 23 in his team’s win over Oman on Monday.

 

Junaid Siddique was paraded through his village for his fine show in  the Abu Dhabi T10. Photo courtesy: Junaid Siddique

This reporter has covered all of this Multan-born pacer’s top performances in the UAE. In the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10, he emerged as the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, which included the wickets of Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard. There was a time when he arrived in the UAE seeking a job, with no money, and had to seek help to get Dh 10 ($2.80). When he returned to his village near Multan after his brilliant show in the T10, the whole village had come out to garland him, and they paraded him through the streets. After this show, another reception may well be waiting for him.

 

Much more than a border tension 

 

After Pakistan opener Saim Ayub got out recording a hat-trick of ducks, a fan remarked that if he scores his first run, he should be allowed to keep that ball as a souvenir. Many Pakistan fans had arrived with headbands carrying the words ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ printed on them. After all that happened before the match on Wednesday, the tension among officials at the stadium seemed to be much more than the tension at the India-Pakistan border. Asia Cup media manager, Emmad Hameed, had a tough time handling queries over Pakistan’s delay, but he managed to handle it professionally.