Lalchand Rajput says reaching last four of Asia Cup ‘would be huge for UAE’ ahead of crunch Pakistan clash

National team will qualify to face India again if they beat Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday

UAE's Alishan Sharafu during the recent tri-series match against Pakistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National

While the tension between India and Pakistan continues following the handshake row in the Asia Cup, the less-celebrated players of the UAE know they could yet defuse the issue themselves.

The fallout has continued from the decision of Suryakumar Yadav and his Indian team to not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts after Sunday night’s match.

It angered their opposition to the point where Pakistan’s board lodged a formal complaint with the ICC about the conduct of the match referee.

According to Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman, match referee Andy Pycroft had requested captains Suryakumar and Salman Agha to not shake hands during the coin toss.

There have subsequently been reports that Pakistan are considering boycotting a potential rematch against India, or pulling out of the tournament altogether.

While the furore was continuing in Dubai on Monday, the UAE were quietly working their way back into the drama themselves in Abu Dhabi.

Bouncing back from an opening day thrashing at the hands of India, they put together a fine display to beat Oman at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

The 42-run win in the capital was built on a fine 88-run opening stand between Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem, who both made half-centuries, and four wickets for Junaid Siddique.

It also means they are now in with a chance of making the Super Four, and ruling out another meeting between India and Pakistan.

The winner of Wednesday evening’s fixture between the UAE and Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium will advance, and play the Indians on Sunday.

Pakistan have just beaten the national team twice in the tri-series which preceded the Asia Cup. But, while the UAE had the chance to shake off the disappointment of their own defeat to India, Pakistan have had the distraction of the controversy which followed theirs.

“We have to take this momentum forward,” Lalchand Rajput, the UAE coach, said of the prospect of upsetting the odds and qualifying at Pakistan’s expense.

“A good thing is that we have played Pakistan in the tri-series so we know where we stand. If we can put up a good performance on the day, definitely our team can make it to the Super Four.

“We played very good cricket against Oman, and we will try to play our very best cricket tomorrow. It would be a huge thing for us to qualify for the last four.”

Rajput said his side had shown character in fighting back from the loss against India, when they made the lowest total in their T20I history, in the win over Oman.

“After that loss we did not speak much about it,” Rajput said. “I just said, ‘Forget about it, it happens to everybody; you have a bad day at the office'.

“We had three net sessions after that, and we were positive, looking forward. We had a very good performance [against Oman] and that really shows that the team is very positive.

“We tried to apply what we could do. Alishan knows the pitch conditions very well, and that was the reason why we had a very good opening partnership. That put us in a strong position.”

Sharafu was player of the match for his 38-ball 51 against Oman. The 22-year-old opener’s effort, on a ground which he calls home when he plays for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the ILT20, set the tone for his side.

He said his side felt the India loss had been a “one-off bad game” and were confident they could play themselves into a position to set up a winner-takes-all game against Pakistan.

“We knew we had two games and we had to win both,” Sharafu said. “We had to take it one day at a time and having finished the first, we are all in a good space.

“We played [Pakistan] recently in a tri-series as well. We just want to take whatever mistakes we made, rectify them, and hopefully put in a good performance. The aim is to look to beat them and go through to the Super Four.

“They are still a good team [despite losing to India on Sunday] so you still have to go out there and play some good cricket.

“You don’t want to focus too much on the opposition. You just want to focus on what we have worked through for the past few months and back our strengths.”