The captains of the
Asia Cup participating countries converged in Dubai ahead of the start of the tournament later in the day. India captain Suryakumar Yadav was joined by his counterparts Jatinder Singh (Oman), Salman Agha (Pakistan), Muhammad Waseem (UAE),
Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Litton Das (Bangladesh), Yasim Murtaza (Hong Kong) and
Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka). The tournament gets underway with Afghanistan taking on Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi.
Having performed the media duties in Dubai, Rashid and Murtaza will complete an hour-long drive to Abu Dhabi to prepare for the contest that gets underway at 8pm IST/6:30pm local time - or just under five hours from the conclusion of the press conference.
When asked about the logistical hurdle at the very get go, Rashid admitted it wasn't ideal.
"I don't think it's ideal to play a game in Abu Dhabi and stay in Dubai. But as a cricketer, you have to accept it. In other countries, you travel 3-4 hours to keep playing. You have to be mentally prepared and that is about being professional. For us, it's important to keep giving 100% and doing the best we can and leaving everything else to the side," said the Afghan spinner.
Making the task even more daunting is the fact that Afghanistan played just two days ago against Pakistan in the final of the tr-series in Sharjah.
In the final, Afghanistan suffered a disappointing defeat where their batters looked totally ill-equipped against Pakistan's spinners on a turning track. The toll of that loss, as well as the quick turnaround, offers Hong Kong an opportunity to create ripples at the start of the continental tournament.
Another team who have had a tricky time of things are Sri Lanka. After playing two ODIs and three T20Is in Zimbabwe, with the last game on Sunday, they've had to make a quick dash as well. Luckily for them, their first game is on September 13 against Bangladesh.
"Playing back to back matches from Zimbabwe to now is very hard. I wish I had couple of days off and hope the coach agrees," said Sri Lanka skipper Asalanka with a laugh. "The conditions are tough too, it will be hot. I am sleepy right now... I want to answer this tomorrow! All jokes aside, we are well prepared and want to hit the ground running."
Afghanistan, who reached the T20 World Cup semi-finals last year, are one of the dark horses for the title.
"Whenever you come into a big competition, you come well prepared. We are a well balanced team. But in the end, it is the effort you put on the field that counts. For us, (it is) important to focus on the future. Just control what is controllable, what you do on the field is what you can control and we plan on doing just that," stated Rashid.
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