The fact that India, the 2025 Asia Cup‘s official hosts, should be “hosting” the United Arab Emirates in Dubai seems a little ridiculous. However, having two different types of hosts—and the event taking place at all—feels like a minor win considering the uncertainty that hung over the tournament in the months before.
India and the UAE will only play each other in Twenty20 Internationals twice. The first occurred during the 2016 Asia Cup, when India easily defeated the UAE in 10.1 overs after they stumbled to 81/9. Rohit Sharma won Player of the Match for a score of 39 off of 28 balls since the match was so unfair.
After nine years, the difference has decreased, but not by much. India has soared, while the UAE has advanced, aided in no small part by the ILT20 and the exposure it has given their players. Because to Rohit Sharma’s freedom template and the IPL’s Impact Player rule, the batting has become more unrestrained. What used to be a cautious society has changed drastically.
Even though Rohit is no longer a part of the T20I lineup, the outcomes since the T20 World Cup victory have highlighted that change. Including all five of their bilateral series, three of which were away, India has won 17 of its 20 Twenty20 Internationals in this new World Cup cycle. And they show up as the clear favourites versus the United Arab Emirates.
The fact that India hasn’t played a Twenty20 International in more than seven months and that the UAE grounds haven’t always been accommodating to them should be consoling to the underdogs. The memories of India’s lone loss to their rivals in an ICC competition, a 10-wicket thrashing by Pakistan in 2021, is still fresh. They were eliminated from the Asia Cup final a year later due to losses to Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
That is not to say that, on paper, this is an even contest. India has more financial and human resources than the United Arab Emirates, but a team playing at home, where its players have played against the best in the world in the ILT20, would feel confident that they can at least make India sweat. Even in Dubai, stranger things have happened in cricket.
When: 6:30 PM on September 10 8 PM IST local time
In what location? Dubai International Stadium
Expect to see some grass on the pitch. Since the country’s cricket season has just begun, pacers might anticipate having more influence than they did at the Champions Trophy earlier this year, when India fielded up to four spinners on deteriorated fields. However, the forecast is far less forgiving, calling for “excessive heat” and a high of 42 degrees. Both the players and the fans should be put to the test because the temperature is still expected to be about 36 degrees during the game.
Team observation
India: The nets have provided hints, but the team management still has some decisions to make. With the suggestion of grass on the pitch working in his favour, Shivam Dube seems to be the front-runner for an all-rounder’s spot. Abhishek Sharma and the returning vice-captain Shubman Gill are expected to open, while Jitesh Sharma appears to be taking the gloves behind the stumps, so displacing Sanju Samson. The final piece is the spin conundrum, which is a tie between Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Patel should be ranked number eight.
Strategies & Matches: Can Suryakumar Yadav find his magic again? Even though he scored a lot in the IPL, his results for India since the beginning of 2024 have been more modest: 457 runs in 22 innings, an average of hardly 22, and an SR that is about 20 points lower than his IPL totals.
Most likely XI: Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wk), and Shubman Gill (vc)
UAE: The success of Muhammad Waseem at the top and Asif Khan in the middle order will be crucial. They are both formidable batsmen.
Strategies & Matches: With three of the four hundreds he has scored for his nation in T20Is, captain Muhammad Wasim is the UAE’s top scorer. He will be a crucial wicket that India will target and was named Player of the Series in the UAE’s most recent 2-1 victory against Bangladesh.
Most likely XI: Asif Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Farooq, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem (C), Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Zohaib, and Rahul Chopra (wk)
Were you aware?: India’s record in the UAE is six out of ten T20I victories. These victories came against Hong Kong, Namibia, Scotland, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (2).
In terms of the most sixes struck in Twenty20 Internationals, Waseem is presently only surpassed by Rohit Sharma.
Kuldeep Yadav hasn’t played in a Twenty20 International since the 2024 World Cup.
What they stated
To play such a fantastic event, we have been preparing for it for the past few months. I have no doubt that we are prepared to take on this challenge: The UAE captain, Muhammad Waseem
It’s been a while since we played T20 together as a squad. However, we had a great time working as a team when we were here three or four days ago, and we are eager for this tournament: The captain of India, Suryakumar Yadav
India
