UAE spinner Ahmed Raza stole the show and gave himself an early birthday present as his five wickets restricted Pakistan to 224-7 in their two-day warm-up game on Friday.
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The stand-in captain, who turns 27 today was the stand-out bowler with figures of 5-36, removing veteran Younis Khan (23), Sarfraz Ahmed (40), Ahmed Shehzad (6), Yasir Shah (10) and Imran Khan (1) as Pakistan batsmen struggled on the opening day.
All-rounder Shoaib Malik extended his fine form, hitting five fours and a maximum in his 49-run knock before retiring but the 1992 world champions, who fielded a strong team, will be hoping for a better show today ahead of the opening Test against England on Tuesday at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
With the UAE agreeing to field some Pakistan players, who were frequently rotated, in their starting 11 in order to get as much match practice as possible, Raza’s men showed no signs of nerves.
It was a much changed UAE squad which featured at the World Twenty20 qualifiers in July as coach Aaqib Javed looks to build for the future.
Former Under-19 players Rohit Singh and Chirag Suri were called up while uncapped Imran Haider and Zaheer Maqsood will be looking to make their case for selection in the future.
After Yodhin Punja and Riaz Ahmed had rattled Pakistan with early wickets, they recovered from 54-2 as Malik and Younis Khan put on a 60-run stand.
That alliance soon came to an end after the latter was caught by Singh. But Malik and Ahmed found their rhythm and frustrated the bowlers with an 83-run partnership.
Just as it seemed they were getting into the groove, Ahmed fell to Raza before Saqlain Haider’s quick thinking saw Shah stumped, while Khan was the last man to be out.
For Raza it was a memorable day day after turning a sterling display against quality Test batsmen.
“It’s a good feeling. First of all to captain the UAE against a full-Test playing nation is a great honour especially against Paksitan and to pick up five wickets is the cherry on the top,” he said.
With Pakistan playing a full-strength team, Raza is aware today will be more difficult. He said: “They are a tough side in these conditions as they are really used to this. So I am sure they will come back stronger.”
