Dubai [UAE], September 13 : India head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav closely inspected the pitch of the Dubai International Stadium on the eve of their much-debated clash against Pakistan on Sunday at the Asia Cup.
Gambhir and Suryakumar closely inspected the surface. They walked near the strip, and Gambhir bent down, touched the surface with both of his hands, possibly trying to get a grasp of how hard the strip is.
India kicked off its campaign at the Asia Cup on Wednesday with a landslide 9-wicket victory over the UAE. The spin magic, especially from left-armer Kuldeep Yadav, worked wonders as the UAE were left bamboozled and packed their bags on 57, the second-lowest total of the tournament's history. In reply, India gunned down the target in a mere 4.3 overs to begin its journey with flying colours.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's misfiring batting unit took the spotlight against Oman with opener Saim Ayub and captain Salman Ali Agha returning to the dugout within the blink of an eye with a golden duck across their name. A couple of handy performances towards the end spurred Pakistan to limp its way to 160/7.
Throughout the first innings, white-ball head coach Mike Hesson bore a frown while taking notes of the performances from his batters. The spin troika of Mohammad Nazaz, Sufyan Moqim and Abrar Ahmed came to their rescue as they embarked on their journey with a daunting 93-run victory.
The emotions surrounding India's encounter with its arch-rival, Pakistan, are mixed. While some have suggested the game must go on, the other half has called for a boycott of the fixture. The anger over India facing Pakistan in the tournament stems from the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, during which 26 tourists were killed on April 22 by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in the name of religion.
During the buildup to the clash between the two rivals, fans have taken to social media and declared that they won't be tuning in to watch the rivalry.
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.
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (C), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.
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