By Vipul Kashyap
Dubai [UAE], September 8 : UAE cricket coach Lalchand Rajput is looking forward to meeting his former pupil and India head coach Gautam Gambhir as they hope to stage an upset in their Asia Cup campaign opener against a side that brims with "match-winners".
India and the UAE, placed in Group A, will square off on Wednesday at the Dubai International Stadium, a clash that appears one-sided on paper, given the stature of the two teams. India is coming into the fixture without much T20I action, considering they were involved in a five-match Test series in England.
On the other hand, the UAE recently engaged in a T20I Tri-Series against Pakistan and Afghanistan. They lost every fixture, but gained valuable experience through their spirited performance before the Asia Cup. Rajput, a former India Test batter, is aware of the threat that stands in front of them.
While citing that in the short format, a single player could singlehandedly dictate the outcome, Rajput subtly hinted at the prospect of an upset and told ANI, "India is a big team. They were the champions in the last World Cup. But it is a good opportunity to play against India. In T20s the team that plays better on the given day will win. A single batter or bowler can win you the game. We will play fearless cricket."
The UAE, which is participating in the tournament for the first time since 2016, boasts immense talent, including captain Muhammad Waseem, power-hitter Asif Khan, and others. Rajput is satisfied with their batting depth and reckons a couple of "good" spinners could ask a couple of questions from India.
Despite "nervousness" creeping into the camp, Rajput is assured that his side will be ready, but it will come down to the manner in which they execute their game.
"Our batting is strong, we have good spinners in our bowling unit. The players have experience of playing in the UAE. But we will see how they perform against a big team. Everybody wants to play against India. There will be nervousness, and I think our players are ready," he added.
When asked about the strength of the Indian team, Rahput failed to single out an individual as a match-winner because he classified the entire team in that bracket and said, "The entire Indian team is strong. Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Gill has returned, Abhishek and Tilak have scored centuries. The players they have are match-winners. It is hard to name one player."
For Rajput, the clash will hold much more significance as his former prodigy Gambhir will be his counterpart this time around. Rajput is eagerly waiting to meet the Indian coach after several years and concluded, "He was the highest run-scorer in the 2007 T20 World Cup. I will meet him after many years. So there will be conversation, and I am definitely looking forward to meeting him."
UAE squad for Asia Cup: Muhammad Waseem (capt), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh and Saghir Khan.
India's squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar 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. Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.
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