Dubai: United Arab Emirates captain Muhammad Waseem won the toss and opted to bowl first against Pakistan in their Asia Cup match, delayed by one hour, here on Wednesday.

The match is going ahead, though beginning at 9pm IST instead of the slated 8pm IST start, after the ICC for the second time rejected Pakistan’s demand for the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft on a day of intense drama.

Pakistan was forced to climb down from its pullout threat and head to the stadium for the match after initially refusing to leave its hotel for the must-win group match as Pycroft is due to officiate the game.

Pakistan had held Pycroft responsible for the embarrassment it faced after its captain Salman Ali Agha and India skipper Suryakumar did not exchange a handshake and their team sheets during the toss on Sunday.

“We wanted to bat first and put them under scoreboard pressure. Great day for us to play a perfect game. They’re a very good side. If we execute our plans for longer periods, we have a chance against any side. Two changes. Sufiyan (Muqeem) and Faheem (Ashraf) aren’t playing. Haris (Rauf) and Khushdil (Shah) are in,” said Pakistan captain Salman Agha at the toss.

Teams:

Pakistan: Salman Agha (c), Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris (w), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

United Arab Emirates: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Asif Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Harshit Kaushik, Rahul Chopra (w), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Junaid Siddique.

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