India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025: Dubai's harsh heat and humidity will be on the minds of Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha when they step out for the toss on Sunday. The blistering heat might impact the performance of players, particularly the seam bowlers of the team who get to field in the first innings. The overhead conditions are not going to make it easy for the fielders, as well as the batters while running between the wickets.
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Needless to say, the Dubai weather will play its part in the game's outcome. According to AccuWeather, the desert city is expected to bake under 39°C during the day, with the humidity likely to make it feel closer to 44°C. A rain threat is completely out of the picture and the overhead conditions are likely to give the players a tough time. The wind speeds could touch 33 km/h during the game, which could also become a major challenge for the teams.
Although the pitch isn't offering a significant turn, the presence of one right-arm wrist spinner and one left-arm wrist spinner each in both sides makes for a fascinating sub-plot. Sufiyan Muqeem is a good bowler, but nowhere near as crafty as Kuldeep Yadav, whose googly has been unplayable from the hand.
Abrar Ahmed's leg-breaks and quirky celebrations have gained him a lot of fans across Pakistan, but Varun Chakravarthy, with an element of mystery attached to his art form, can mess with the minds of Pakistani batters.
What will the toss winning captain decide?
The captain who wins the toss is expected to bowl first in Dubai today. As the night arrives, the temperature will considerably drop and chasing under the lights is likely to become easier because of expected dew and easing batting conditions.
While it will be a daring task to bowl under the sun, fast bowlers will want to make the most of conditions and accomplish early breakthroughs while spinners will likely play a key role in finishing the innings or in the middle overs. Reports suggest that batting first, meanwhile, may allow a team to set a score without having to deal with the dew factor. Captains may prefer to put bowlers under less physical and grip stress and might prefer batting first to avoid second-half deterioration or dew battles, reports indicate.
India vs Pakistan: Analysis
There are batters like Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, and a pacer like Jasprit Bumrah, as well as spinners of the calibre of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy in the Indian playing XI. The Indians look way more menacing on paper compared to Pakistan, who are trying to find their feet under new skipper Salman Ali Agha.
However, considering the fickle nature of the format, there is always the chance of an upset, but against this Indian team, the probability remains low.
One of the most talented batters in Pakistan's line-up, opener Saim Ayub, middle-order willow-wielder Hasan Nawaz, and the troika of spinners in Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem, and Mohammad Nawaz would love to prove a point in a new-look team that dumped the philosophy of depending heavily on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Team India probable playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Team Pakistan probable playing XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (WK), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (C), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.