This time the Indian cricket team is preparing the upcoming Asia Cup differently. Rather than gathering in Mumbai and flying out as a unit, the 15-member team under Suryakumar Yadav will fly as a single unit to Dubai. The players will be part of the camp on September 4, and the tournament will start on September 9.
India’s Asia Cup Travel Strategy
The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has made a change in tradition by ruling that every player will fly directly to his home cities. The decision is expected to cut on unnecessary travelling and make the logistics easier to the cricketers before a busy schedule.
“All the players will arrive in Dubai by the evening of September 4, and the first nets session will be held on September 5 at the ICC Academy. Factoring in logistical convenience, the players will be allowed to fly into Dubai from their respective cities,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
The official also added that even though some number of the players may still be leaving out of Mumbai, it would have been impractical to force everybody first to assemble there. “Obviously, a few will travel from Mumbai, but asking some of the others to first come to Mumbai and then fly to Dubai doesn’t make sense. In any case, Dubai is a short-duration flight compared to other international flights,” he said.
Asia Cup 2025 Schedule for India
India will start their Asia Cup campaign against UAE on September 10 in Dubai. Afterwards, there will be the much awaited match with Pakistan on September 14 in the same venue. Their last group match will be on September 19 against Oman and then the Super Four stage starts.
The team will be trained first on September 5, which will allow players four days of the full training process before the first game. This gives the cricketers time as well to rejuvenate after domestic fixtures into the continental tournament.
Players Balancing Domestic and Asia Cup Commitments
There are some members of the Asia Cup team who are presently engaged in home competitions. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana represent the North Zone to play the Duleep Trophy quarter final against East Zone. In the meantime Kuldeep Yadav is playing against Central Zone in a game against North East Zone.
Such fixtures make sure that the players do not lose rhythm in their competitions but they will soon shift their attention to the Asia Cup when they fly to Dubai. BCCI has been keeping a close check on their workload so that they remain fresh to the very important tournament.
No Extra Bowlers for Dubai Camp
It was speculated that the standby cricketing Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar would be accompanying the main team as net bowlers. The BCCI official however made it clear that this would not be so. The management of the team is interested in maintaining a small squad and does not want to include unneeded members to the group.
The strange travel scheme of India has brought about curiosity, though authorities have argued that the move is a viable one given the closeness of Dubai and players tight schedules. The team believes that by spending less time on traveling, and dedicating more attention to preparation, this strategy will make them successful in the Asia Cup 2025.
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