The four-decade old Asia Cup has its own charm about it - in the sense that the tournament conceptualised for the arch -rivals of the Continent - India and Pakistan - brings in to focus the latest talent in these two countries and their wherewithal to challenge themselves on the field over the 50-over format, and now in the T20 format.

Founded in 1984 by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the biennial competition has now played its part in developing talent in other countries that also flaunt the Test status badge. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have come a long way since being allowed entry into the mainstream of international cricket, and in recent times Afghanistan which has surpassed the cricket world’s expectations, showing a terrific ambition to excel and cause an upset in every match it plays.

On the eve of the DP Asia Cup to be played at two venues in the Arabian Gulf (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) from September 9 to 28, it can be said that five countries - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan would truly believe that it has the resources to emerge victorious in the eight-nation tournament to be played in a Twenty20 format. All have slow bowlers to take advantage of the pitch conditions.

But as on most occasions, a sweeping statement can be made that India - because it is the reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion, having put it across South Africa in a nerve-tingling final in Bridgetown, Barbados in June 2024 - is a favourite to get the better of the others in a tournament in which qualifiers like the UAE, Oman and Hong Kong will try to show off their skills and tenacity against the big boys.

Moreover, India remained the only unbeaten team at the World Twenty20 hosted by the USA and the West Indies, winning eight matches on the trot including against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

But a Twenty20 scrap is all about being fickle and fluky, and as instances aplenty have shown in the format, a single cricketer can throw up a game-changing dramatic moment and cause the course of a match to drift decisively.

Not long ago, India experienced a low in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in the UAE losing to Pakistan by ten wickets after left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi dismantled Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul with incisive deliveries in his opening burst. It’s such spectacular acts that will sustain interest in the Asia Cup.

India is the host of the tournament, which could have been a dry run at home prior to next year’s (February-March) ICC World Cup, scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka.

But after the hybrid format agreed upon by the ICC for the last Champions Trophy with India playing all its matches in Dubai, it was decided that the Asia Cup will be held at a neutral single country/venue once Pakistan decided that it will not travel to India for any multi-nation competition in response to India’s decision not to travel to Pakistan (host country) for the Champions Trophy. Such a scenario is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The followers of the game in the Emirates are clearly thrilled about an opportunity to get to see India and Pakistan lock horns in the field. India plays Pakistan on September 14. It will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, who has proved to be the bugbear of most bowlers, although he was not among the runs in the last eight innings for the men in blue team.

India’s selectors seem to have got their act together for assembling a team that it feels has the gifts to win the Continental tournament in the Twenty20 format for the second time.

The selection of Test captain Shubman Gill was a talking point leading to the announcement of the squad, but Chairman Ajit Agarkar and his colleagues were emphatic in their call that when Gill is not occupied with other formats, he will remain integral to the team. That he was named Vice-captain was not a surprise. Yadav underwent a sports hernia surgery in June and any injury scare to him will put Gill at the helm.

The non-selection of Shreyas Iyer triggered adverse reactions, but the Mumbai middle order is in the scheme of things for the World Cup along with Mohammed Siraj and Sai Sudharsan, the three who did not feature in the 15-member squad announced and also the five-man reserves.

The selection committee has placed faith in the team that has won 17 of the 20 matches it has played after the World Cup triumph in the West Indies and one ought not to nitpick them. The likes of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma have been bold, brave and phenomenal and they deserved a place in the team for the Asia Cup.

In the bowling front, the three spinners - mystery bowler Varun Chakravarthy, left arm wrist Kuldeep Yadav and left arm orthodox Axar Patel - will bowl the bulk on the dry pitches of Dubai and Abu Dhabi once the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh manipulate the ball in the first six-over power play and the last four or five.

The Asia Cup will be the first multi-nation event for India after the exit from the format by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

The squad (India): Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-Captain), 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

After a dismal showing in the World Cup, Pakistan has played 23 matches (before the tri-series in the UAE), won just nine and lost fourteen, but the team led by Salman Agha is capable of surpassing itself in the presence of an audience that will shout from the roof top for it.

Pakistan has fielded over 30 players in the last 14 months with only Agha, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed being fielded in over ten matches. The team is coached by New Zealand’s Mike Hesson. Pakistan and India are certain to advance to the Super4 stage where the real competition will take place with two of three from the second group in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan making headway.

Pakistan’s bowling will be shepherded by the brilliant pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, but the selectors have dropped fast bowler Abbas Afridi who has picked 20 wickets at 12.90 and 7.66 in 12 matches in the last ten months.

Leg spinner Abrar can bamboozle batters and left-arm spinner Sufiyan Muqeem has been among the wickets in recent times. Seamer Rauf remains stellar taking plenty of wickets after last year’s World Cup. Pakistan’s bowlers have taken 106 wickets at an economy rate of 8.87 since July 2024. Once they bring the ER down they will be a real force in the UAE.

The squad (Pakistan): Salman Ali Agha (Captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jt., Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Moqeem.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has always been capable of delivering good results as it proved in the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament played in the UAE in 2022. The Emerald nation has played 16 matches after the ICC World Twenty20 and won only six. It is equipped with some remarkable talent and the likes of captain Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Maheesha Patheerana and Wanindu Hasaranga can rise to the occasion, especially on the slow pitches in the UAE.

Asalanka will find the presence of Dasun Shanaka handy to mentor the team. It was under his captaincy that Sri Lanka won the title in 2022 ousting India in the second stage and defeating Pakistan in the final. Sri Lanka has won six of the ten matches it has played in the tournament; the first is India with eight wins out of ten. Pakistan is third with five wins out of ten.

The squad (Sri Lanka): Charith Asalanka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Nuwanidu Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana.

Bangladesh

Recently Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan in a three-match series and these results should hold it in good stead in the Asia Cup group matches. Bangladesh has played 23 matches since July 2024 - after the World Cup - and won ten, but it lost to UAE 1-2. Led by the aggressive Litton Das in the absence of the injured Najmul Hossain Shanto - the team has ideal players for the format to score runs and a solid group of seamers and spinners to enter the Super 4 stage.

The squad (Bangladesh): Litton Das (Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Tawhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali Anik, Shamim Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Shaif Uddin.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has played eight Asia Cup matches in the Twenty20 format and has won four. The team led by Rashid Khan will challenge Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the group stage in order to advance to the Super4 stage. The team is undercooked having played an international in December 2024. Now it is involved in a tri-series in the UAE.

The squad: Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Allah Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Farid Malik, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooq.

Four from the above five will feature in the Super4 stage which will also ensure a second meeting between India and Pakistan and possibly a third should both make the final cut.

As stated earlier, the shortest format of the game will throw open innumerable ponder ables and it will be a question of which team seizes the chance to go for the kill.

India’s fans will watch the action with great interest. Having played and won the Champions Trophy there, most of the team members will know how to respond to situations. The games will move in a flash and every Super4 match could turn out to be a humdinger.

The other three teams UAE, Hong Kong China and Oman will have to play out of its skin to get positive results. Consisting mainly of players from the diaspora - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh- the three non-Test playing nations, two of them

with Indians in their coaching staff - Lalchand Rajput (UAE) and Sulakshan Kulkarni (Oman) - the less fancied teams will gain a lot from exposure against the top teams.

The squad (United Arab Emirates): Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’ Souza, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Rahul Chopra (wicketkeeper), Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh and Saghir Khan.

Hong Kong, China: Yasim Murtaza (Captain): Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali, Niazakat Khan Mohammad, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Marc Challu, Ayush Ashish Shukla, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Ateeq ul Rehman Iqbal, Kinchit Shah, Adil Mehmood, Haroon Mohammad Arshad, Ali Hassan, Shahid Wasif, Ghazanfar Mohammad, Mohammad Waheed, Anas Khan, Ehsan Khan.

The Squad (Oman): Jatinder Singh (Captain) Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla, Sufyan Yousuf, Ashish Odedera, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammed Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Zikriya Islam, Hassnain Ali Shah, Faisal Shah, Muhammed Imran, Nadeem Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, Samay Shrivasta.