UAE and India will square off on September 10 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem isn't focusing on the narrative of their Asia Cup 2025 campaign opener against India being a big match. Instead, they want to keep things simple, stick to their plan and make the most of the right moment.
The UAE is making steady inroads to become one of the top sides in Asia, much like Afghanistan, which has earned a reputation as one of the heavyweights in the subcontinent.
The stellar run to qualify for the T20 World Cup in 2022 reflects UAE’s recent surge. The Waseem-led side is striving to draw upon its experiences and take the necessary steps to start its campaign on a high.
"We will not take it as a big match because all the teams are good in front of you, so all the matches will be the same. We are working hard in the heat, and we will only follow our plan. Whatever we have learned and whatever we need to do on that day, we will do it. Rest, the result is up to the game," Waseem told ANI.
Waseem isn't a big fan of the idea of identifying a single player who poses a threat and then making a plan to counter him.
"No, we have not made any individual plan for any particular player. We have created a plan for 6-7 batters for the whole team. We will not give their strength to the strength. We will play carefully with their wicket-taker bowler, and whoever we can charge, we have made such a plan. If the unit is more, the role of the spinners can increase," he added.
The conditions in UAE is likely to assist spinners during the continental tournament. The Indian squad features experienced tweakers like Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel, with Washington Sundar in the reserves.
According to Waseem, if the dew factor comes into play, it would be easy to negate the threat posed by the spinners.
"Whenever there is dew, I think the spinner's ball doesn't turn much. But it depends on the weather tomorrow and the conditions. And as I have told you, whatever we have learned. Yes, you are right that we play a lot of cricket here. We can also say that India and Pakistan play a lot of cricket here. But it is our home. So we will try our best to take advantage of and play good cricket," he concluded.
India squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
UAE squad for Asia Cup: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra, Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Saghir Khan.
(With ANI Inputs)