- Joined
- Aug 12, 2023
- Runs
- 22,386
There’s a touch of irony in the fact that India, the official hosts of the 2025 Asia Cup, are "hosting" UAE in Dubai. Yet, given the uncertainty that surrounded the tournament in the months leading up to it, the very fact that it's going ahead — and doing so with not one but two kinds of hosts — already feels like a small triumph.
This will be only the second T20I meeting between India and the UAE. The first came during the 2016 Asia Cup, when UAE crawled to 81/9 — a target India chased down in just 10.1 overs. The game was so one-sided that Rohit Sharma was named Player of the Match for a 28-ball 39.
Nine years later, the gap has narrowed — but only slightly. The UAE have progressed, thanks in large part to the ILT20 and the exposure it has brought their players. But India have taken giant strides. Their batting, once marked by caution, has embraced aggression — first shaped by Rohit Sharma’s "freedom" philosophy, and then turbocharged by the IPL’s Impact Player rule. What was once a conservative approach is now anything but.
India’s results since their T20 World Cup triumph speak volumes. Even without Rohit in the setup, they’ve won 17 of their last 20 T20Is in this new cycle, sweeping all five bilateral series — including three away from home. Against the UAE, they walk in as overwhelming favourites.
For the underdogs, any source of hope lies in India’s recent inactivity — they haven’t played a T20I in over seven months — and in the tricky history India have had at UAE venues. The 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup — India’s only loss to them in an ICC tournament — still stings. A year later, losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended their Asia Cup campaign before the final.
Still, this isn’t a contest that looks evenly matched on paper. India’s resources — both in talent and infrastructure — far outweigh anything the UAE can muster. But for a team playing at home, at venues where many of their players have shared dressing rooms with some of the world’s best, there will be quiet confidence. They may not expect to win, but they’ll believe they can make India work for it.
Squads:
India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh
United Arab Emirates Squad: Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Rahul Chopra(w), Asif Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Matiullah Khan, Ethan DSouza, Simranjeet Singh
=======
All posters, please take note of the following guidelines for match threads on PakPassion:
1. No personal insults at other posters, players, officials, coaching staff, etc.
2. No making fun of players', officials', or coaching staff's names.
3. Do not add any references to media, their social media, or post any pictures or screenshots from other sports websites.
4. Stick to commenting on this match. There is no need to bring other countries into the match discussion, as there are plenty of other threads where those discussions can be added.
This will be only the second T20I meeting between India and the UAE. The first came during the 2016 Asia Cup, when UAE crawled to 81/9 — a target India chased down in just 10.1 overs. The game was so one-sided that Rohit Sharma was named Player of the Match for a 28-ball 39.
Nine years later, the gap has narrowed — but only slightly. The UAE have progressed, thanks in large part to the ILT20 and the exposure it has brought their players. But India have taken giant strides. Their batting, once marked by caution, has embraced aggression — first shaped by Rohit Sharma’s "freedom" philosophy, and then turbocharged by the IPL’s Impact Player rule. What was once a conservative approach is now anything but.
India’s results since their T20 World Cup triumph speak volumes. Even without Rohit in the setup, they’ve won 17 of their last 20 T20Is in this new cycle, sweeping all five bilateral series — including three away from home. Against the UAE, they walk in as overwhelming favourites.
For the underdogs, any source of hope lies in India’s recent inactivity — they haven’t played a T20I in over seven months — and in the tricky history India have had at UAE venues. The 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup — India’s only loss to them in an ICC tournament — still stings. A year later, losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended their Asia Cup campaign before the final.
Still, this isn’t a contest that looks evenly matched on paper. India’s resources — both in talent and infrastructure — far outweigh anything the UAE can muster. But for a team playing at home, at venues where many of their players have shared dressing rooms with some of the world’s best, there will be quiet confidence. They may not expect to win, but they’ll believe they can make India work for it.
Squads:
India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh
United Arab Emirates Squad: Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Rahul Chopra(w), Asif Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Matiullah Khan, Ethan DSouza, Simranjeet Singh
=======
All posters, please take note of the following guidelines for match threads on PakPassion:
1. No personal insults at other posters, players, officials, coaching staff, etc.
2. No making fun of players', officials', or coaching staff's names.
3. Do not add any references to media, their social media, or post any pictures or screenshots from other sports websites.
4. Stick to commenting on this match. There is no need to bring other countries into the match discussion, as there are plenty of other threads where those discussions can be added.
