India has an array of match-winners such as Abhishek, Bumrah and Axar in its ranks.
| Photo Credit: AFP
One of the virtues of the T20 game is considered to be its shorter duration that allows for curious twists and capricious results. There may be a degree of truth to this, but the gulf between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is so vast that anything less than an emphatic win for Suryakumar Yadav’s men in their Asia Cup encounter at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday evening will startle greatly.
Though the Indian players haven’t been on national duty lately, their practice sessions in Dubai’s sultry climate have been full of verve since arriving last week. On Monday, they trained for more than three hours, getting into rhythm with bat and ball at the ICC Academy before undertaking fielding drills under lights at the playing arena. For the optional session on match eve, Suryakumar, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy were among those who turned up.
Ever since the announcement of the squad on August 19, intrigue has revolved around the composition of India’s XI. Shubman Gill’s return to the T20I set-up as vice-captain suggests he will open the batting alongside former U-19 World Cup-winning teammate Abhishek Sharma. With Tilak and Suryakumar set to follow at Nos. 3 and 4, not necessarily in that order considering the emphasis on a left-right combination, Jitesh seems likely to slot in as wicketkeeper ahead of Sanju Samson. He sparkled in the middle-order for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in this year’s IPL.
Suryakumar was non-committal when asked about the toss-up between Jitesh and Samson. “We are taking really good care of Samson. And don’t worry, we’ll make the right decision tomorrow,” the skipper said.
While Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel provide balance as genuine all-rounders, it also remains to be seen whether the wicket-taking potency of spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun is utilised in harness. The pace attack, of course, will be spearheaded by a fit and fresh Jasprit Bumrah. It is worth noting that the surface wore a greenish hue on Tuesday.
Adding significance to these matches for India is the fact that its defence of the T20 World Cup is just five months away. It has a maximum of 22 T20Is between now and then.
In stark contrast, the UAE’s ambitions will be realistically restricted to leaving a positive impression in this event. The Muhammad Waseem-led team managed that to a certain extent in the recent tri-series with Pakistan and Afghanistan at Sharjah, notably going down by just four runs in a fixture to Rashid Khan and Co.
“We took so many positive points, especially the way we batted,” said Waseem on Tuesday.
Rajput in UAE camp
The presence of coach Lalchand Rajput in the UAE camp makes for a lovely subplot. It was the 63-year-old who served as team manager when India won the 2007 World T20 in South Africa to hasten the growth of the shortest format in many ways. All these years later, he will experience what it is like to be up against a fine Indian team firing on all cylinders.
The teams: UAE: Muhammad Waseem (Capt.), Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra (wk), Ethan D’Souza, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Farooq, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Rohid, Simranjeet Singh, Muhammad Zohaib, Saghir Khan.
India: Suryakumar Yadav (Capt.), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Published – September 09, 2025 09:06 pm IST