Pakistan will begin their Asia Cup campaign against tournament first-timers Oman in match four at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. The contest offers the defending champions a chance to fine-tune their combination before the high-voltage clash against India later in the week.
Pakistan look to carry winning form
Salman Ali Agha’s men arrive in Dubai fresh from winning a tri-series in Sharjah against Afghanistan and UAE, dropping just one game along the way. Before that, they claimed a T20I series win in the West Indies. The likes of Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman and Hasan Nawaz are expected to lead Pakistan’s batting charge, while Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf spearhead the bowling attack. Spin will be key on Dubai’s surface, with Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed in contention.
Oman face stern test
Oman, led by veteran Jatinder Singh, enter the tournament with limited recent T20 experience. Their last outing came in February against the USA, where they suffered a 3-0 defeat. With several new faces following last year’s pay dispute, Oman will look to depend on Singh, Hammad Mirza and Vinayak Shukla to steady the batting, while Sufyan Mehmood and Shakeel Ahmed aim to provide breakthroughs with the ball.
First meeting in T20Is
This will be the first-ever T20I encounter between Pakistan and Oman. For Pakistan, the fixture is a potential warm-up ahead of tougher tests, but they will be wary of avoiding any slip-ups against an underdog — lessons learnt the hard way in last year’s T20 World Cup.
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