Asia Cup: India eye tune-up against winless Oman ahead of Super4 Pakistan clash

India’s Asia Cup group clash against Oman on Friday is unlikely to be remembered for its competitiveness, but rather for the opportunities it presents. With a Super Four showdown against Pakistan just two days away, Suryakumar Yadav’s men will treat the Abu Dhabi fixture as a chance to fine-tune combinations, test the bench and let the middle order shake off rust.

With qualification already secured thanks to convincing wins over the UAE and Pakistan, the upcoming match offers fringe batters like Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel valuable time in the middle. It could also be the right occasion to rest Jasprit Bumrah and hand Harshit Rana or Arshdeep Singh a look-in against a fragile Omani batting line-up that has struggled to put runs on the board.

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For India’s batters, the Omani attack might offer a dress rehearsal of sorts. Their bowlers, though limited in quality, bring skills that echo Pakistan’s line-up. Shah Faisal’s left-arm pace is a modest parallel to Shaheen Afridi, Aamir Kaleem’s left-arm spin to Mohammad Nawaz, and Samay Shrivastava’s leg-spin to Abrar Ahmed. For Shubman Gill, it could be another chance to test his improved technique against left-arm quicks before the big one on Sunday.

The spinners, however, could provide the most valuable practice. Spin has increasingly shaped results in this tournament, with Pakistan’s unlikely trump card being opener Saim Ayub, three successive ducks with the bat but boasting six wickets, including three against India. For Tilak Varma, whose free-flowing game has recently shown cracks against spin, and Shivam Dube, whose IPL struggles against tweakers remain fresh, Oman’s slower bowlers represent a timely challenge.

This will be the first senior international meeting between India and Oman, but some players know each other from the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup last October in Muscat. Then, Tilak Varma’s India ‘A’ side, featuring Abhishek Sharma, comfortably defeated a full-strength Omani outfit. The gulf in standards is unlikely to have narrowed since.

Friday’s clash, therefore, is less about the result and more about India’s preparations, finding rhythm, ironing out weaknesses and conserving energy before the intensity spikes again against the arch-rivals.

Squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Oman: Jatinder Singh (c), 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 Shrivastava.