India chose to put runs on the board in Abu Dhabi, with captain Suryakumar Yadav winning the toss and electing to bat in what is effectively a dead rubber. All four Super Four slots are already locked in—India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are through—so this match offered a low-risk chance to tweak personnel and test a few theories.
Key changes first. Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy were rested; Harshit Rana plays his maiden match of the tournament and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh returns. Arshdeep is sitting on 99 T20I wickets, so one more scalp would make him the first Indian bowler to reach three figures in the format—no small motivation on an otherwise inconsequential afternoon.
Explaining the decision to bat, Suryakumar said: “We’ve not batted [first] in this competition and we want to know our depth. having game-time is important going into Super Fours.” The logic is straightforward: the middle order, largely untested so far, might as well feel the heat before the pressure matches arrive.
Conditions in Abu Dhabi have not offered as much grip for spinners as neighbouring Dubai of late, so India have gone with only two specialist slow bowlers, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. Abhishek Sharma provides a handy extra option with his left-arm spin if required. The seam attack, meanwhile, looks fresh: Hardik Pandya will steer the ship, flanked by Harshit’s new-ball pace and Arshdeep’s left-arm angle.
Oman have shuffled too, bringing in Zikria Islam and Mohammad Nadeem for Wasim Ali and Hassnain Shah. Captain Jatinder Singh admitted his side are still finding their feet at this level but was upbeat about the chance to measure themselves against India in what is the first senior international meeting of the two teams. “We’re short on experience, no question, yet games like this are exactly what we need to grow,” he noted before the toss.
Squads at a glance
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
Oman: Aamir Kaleem, Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Shah Faisal, Zikria Islam, Aryan Bisht, Mohammad Nadeem, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava, Jiten Ramanandi.
From here, the contest will be less about the result and more about rhythms and rehearsals. For India, a solid start and a look at their bench strength; for Oman, a chance to push a heavyweight and learn. One way or another, the afternoon should tell a few small yet useful tales before the real tournament resumes.
