India ready to rock at Asia Cup

It has been quite a while since bestseller India has rocked up on these shores but over the next fortnight or so, it will bleed blue in the UAE with cricket's finest gracing the iconic venues in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Asia Cup, the continent's own little party is set to unfurl and the large expat Indian population that makes up the UAE couldn't have asked for anything better than seeing these young men in flesh and blood.
Sure, Indian fans have witnessed some of their favourites when the Indian Premier League (IPL), their biggest money-spinner arrived at the UAE's doorstep in 2014. But nothing can come close to the nation playing cricket here, not even the popular city-based franchise T20 cricket. The last time they were here was 12 summers ago when incidentally, India took on Pakistan in two One Day Internationals (ODI) in Abu Dhabi.
Both matches were held to mark the opening of the Zayed Cricket Stadium in the UAE Capital, and was called the DLF Cup. The Rahul Dravid-led India side, which included the likes of MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Robin Uthappa, among others, took on a Pakistan team, skippered by Inzamam-ul-Haq and that included Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi.
Honours ended even with Pakistan winning the first ODI, while India took the second ODI, with proceeds from the game going to the victims of the earthquake in Kashmir in 2005. Since then, India have been somewhat reluctant to play here but with Pakistan refusing to play in India because of conflict between the two countries, the Asia Cup, originally scheduled to be played in India, will take place in the UAE.
Virat Kohli may been rested because of his hectic workload but that doesn't take the sheen of this India side, which will be captained by Rohit Sharma. Over the next three weeks starting from September 15 to 28, fans here in the UAE will get to see the likes of Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, former skipper MS Dhoni and young guns like KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, to name a few.
With the World Cup to be held in England next year, this is a crucial season as teams prepare for cricket's showpiece from May 30 to July 15. India's season has 30 ODIs scheduled until March next year and the Asia Cup presents an ideal opportunity for the two-time world champions to fill some missing pieces before they make the sojourn to England.
After the Asia Cup, India have three ODIs against Australia in January 2019 with the return series in February-March consisting of five ODIs. India also play New Zealand away across five One Day Internationals. The Asia Cup will have another audition for middle-order slots with Manish Pandey, on the back of a successful run with India 'B,' as well as Ambati Rayudu, doing likewise with India 'A,' making a return to the side.
Another returnee is Kedhar Jadhav, with the Maharashtra all-rounder coming back from a hamstring injury sustained during the IPL. The squad also sees pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar making a comeback following a thumb injury. The trio had missed the limited-over segment in England.
The Indian selectors have also picked uncapped 20-year-old left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed, with one eye on the World Cup. Although MS Dhoni will be in charge of the gloves, the side also has a back-up wicketkeeper in Dinesh Karthik. The Tamil Nadu ace can also be picked just as batsman alone if the team management wants to tinker with the combination on these sub-continental surfaces.
Kumar, Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and the greenhorn Khaleel make up the pace attack but with the pitches here favouring spin, India have a couple of aces up their sleeve. Since India realised their fallacy, most glaringly in the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan at Edgbaston, they have turned the tide and shifted their theme of attack from finger spinners to wrist spinners.
R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are not part of the ODI scheme of things anymore with the exciting left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal leading the spin duties. India have also selected Axar Patel in the squad. And it should be an exciting prospect to see Yadav and Chahal have a go on the pitches here.
India have won the Asia Cup six times, the most by any team and finished runners-up thrice. Although Pakistan, whom they take on in a blockbuster clash on September 19 at the 'Ring of Fire' - the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai Sports City - on September 19, could be strong contenders for the title, apart from perhaps Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, it looks likely that India could add a seven piece of silverware.
History points towards it as well. India were champions when the very first edition of the tournament was played here in 1984 in Sharjah. They also won the title in 1995, also in Sharjah. India are the defending champions, triumphing against the hosts in Bangladesh. But that 2016 edition employed the hugely-popular T20 format. With the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) taking a decision in 2015 to rotate with ODI and T20 keeping in mind the World Cup year for either format, the format reverts to 50 overs.
Nonetheless, it should provide for some exciting fare, in what is Asia's own little mini-World Cup of sorts.

- james@khaleejtimes.com

India’s former captain MS Dhoni poses with the trophy during the award ceremony of the final of the Asia Cup 2010.