UAE’s batting consultant and former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar reckons his side has a very possible chance of upsetting the 1992 champions if they can see through the opening spell of Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz when the two teams clash in the picturesque setting of Napier on Wednesday.
While the UAE have lost all their three matches in the 2015 World Cup so far, Pakistan moved up from the bottom of the points table on Sunday with a hard-fought win over Zimbabwe – their first in three matches after embarrassing losses to India and West Indies.
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According to Nazar, the wicket at McLean Park is one of the best in the tournament, and he is confident that the UAE batsmen will give a much better account of themselves than what happened at the bouncy WACA pitch in Perth on Saturday, where they were bowled out for 102 runs in the 32nd over.
Nazar, whose all-round abilities were key to Pakistan’s success in the 1980s, said: “If you really look at it, (Ravichandran) Ashwin took four wickets and (Ravindra) Jadeja chipped in with two, but the real damage was done earlier by (Umesh) Yadav.
“He not only took an early wicket, but he unsettled our batsmen with his pace and bounce. He always looked like taking a wicket.
“We always knew that Perth was going to be difficult for our batsmen, because they have never faced anything like this ever before. And yet, I thought they could have hung around and they should have played the 50 overs. They could have at least got something decent to bowl at.
“But unlike Perth, the Napier wicket is a dream strip for the batsmen. I do expect our batters to do well here, and yet, I believe it will depend on the kind of start we get against Irfan and Riaz.”
Explaining it further, Nazar added: “Irfan, especially, is a class bowler because of his height and the bounce he can generate. We saw how these two combined to get eight wickets against Zimbabwe and helped Pakistan defend such a small target.”
There were a couple of reasons Nazar was feeling optimistic about a shock UAE win on Wednesday.
“Obviously, any victory is good for the morale of the team, but it is very evident that this Pakistan side is short on confidence for various reasons in this World Cup,” Nazar added.
“Their top order is still not firing, and hopefully, our bowlers will be able to take advantage of that.
“But what I have also noticed is that Irfan is bowling very well in the first spell, but he is not that effective when he comes later in the innings. Their death bowling is not up to the mark, which is the reason I want our side to see off the first few overs, and approach the end of the innings with a few wickets in hand.
“If we do that, we can hopefully make a good total and then put their batting under some pressure.”
Nazar was full of praise for Shaiman Anwar, who top-scored for the third successive match for the UAE and is now the seventh most successful batsman of the tournament with an aggregate of 208 runs in three matches.
“I think he has just been fantastic,” said Nazar of the player who used to play first-class cricket in Pakistan before moving to Dubai.
“His biggest plus point is that he has the experience of playing at higher level. So, he knows how to go about building his innings. Even though he is a very attacking batsman, he paces his innings very well.
The UAE are not expected to make any changes to their side, with left-arm seamer Manjula Guruge, who came in for spinner Nasir Aziz in the second match, bowling well and also providing variety to the pace attack.
