NEW DELHI: India kick off their Asia Cup 2025 campaign on Wednesday against hosts United Arab Emirates at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. With eight
Asia Cup titles, the most by any team, the defending champions will aim for a record-extending ninth crown under skipper
Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir.
India arrive in the UAE as favourites, carrying an outstanding record of 24 wins and only three losses since last year’s global tournament.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Suryakumar upbeat ahead of opener
At the pre-match press conference, Suryakumar highlighted both the challenge of facing UAE and the luxury of having part-time bowling options in the squad.
“They (UAE) play an exciting brand of cricket. Recently they came very, very close against strong teams. We are really excited to play them,” he said.
On India’s depth, he added: “We don’t want to rely too much on part-timers, but when a top or middle-order batter gives you an extra over, it’s always good for the captain. On slow pitches, that flexibility can be crucial.”
Asia Cup 2025: Players to watch
Shubman Gill (VC): In red-hot form after the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy in England, Gill has already scored 578 runs in 21 T20Is, including a blazing 126 and four half-centuries*.
Jasprit Bumrah: India’s strike bowler was brilliant in the 2024 T20 World Cup, taking 15 wickets in 8 matches at 8.27 apiece. Across 70 T20Is, he has 89 wickets with a miserly economy of 6.27.
Head-to-head: India vs UAE
The teams have met just once in T20Is — the 2016 Asia Cup, where UAE were restricted to 81/9 before India chased the target inside 11 overs.
Match details
Date: September 10, Wednesday
Time: 8:00 PM IST / 6:30 PM local
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Live on: Sony Sports Network, SonyLIV
India - UAE Squads
India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), 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.
Reserves: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
UAE: 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.
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