Lalchand Rajput may be looking into whether there is a termination clause in the contract. The former India batsman, who is only two games into his three-year contract as UAE manager, must be wondering if this is really what he signed up for.
Indeed, there was nothing quite like a new coach's bounce. At the start of the new cycle of Cricket World Cup League 2, the national team played him twice and suffered two crushing defeats.
The most recent loss was against a Scottish team who are the defending champions in the competition, which is a one-day international league that includes the following teams outside the Test elite. They are rightly considered to be the leading force at this level of the sport.
Yet at the Dubai International Stadium, they didn't even need to get out of second gear to defeat a UAE team that seemed destined for self-destruction from the start.
Just like in the first game against Canada earlier this week, any pre-game optimism quickly dissipated thanks to an unnecessary goal conceded.
At the time, it was Tanish Suri, a teenage debutant, who was struggling. The young wicketkeeper was not even given a second chance at redemption.
He was whipped straight down the side as Vritya Aravind returned to the top of the order behind the stumps.
Aravind himself, still young but with four years of experience at this level, got caught up in the melee in the second over and lost the wicket of UAE captain Mohammad Waseem.
Waseem dropped his bat on the way to his second run, but was still confident of success. Instead, he and Aravind meet the same ending, with Aravind pointing to his ear, suggesting that he did not hear the call.
At that point, the score was 2-1, and capitulation seemed inevitable.
Facing the exquisite bowling of Scotland's seam bowling brothers, Bradley and Scott Currie, the home side were only 132 all out in 45 overs.
Ayan Khan top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 45 off 70 balls.
It was the 12th time in the tournament's 17 games that UAE failed to reach 200 wins between the end of Robin Singh's tenure as coach and the start of the Rajput regime.
Obviously, they had no excuse to complain about the demons on the pitch. The Scottish batsmen had no problems at all in the same strip.
George Manjhi showed that he intends to end the match quickly by scoring 37 off 26 balls, including two reverse-swept sixes into the stands, in the same Aayan over.
His speed slowed slightly after he was dismissed by Basil Hameed for lbw, but the tourists still got the job done with eight wickets and 158 balls to spare.
To provide an exclamation point, the victory came from Charlie Teer's sixth bat, delivering a simple 68-ball half-century on his ODI debut in the process.
Brandon McMullen chipped in with 39 off 44 balls before being bowled by Aryan.
Updated: March 3, 2024, 1:17 p.m.
