{"id":2740,"date":"2025-09-14T01:37:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T01:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/14\/india-vs-pakistan-how-teams-prepared-for-heated-asia-cup-match\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T01:37:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T01:37:22","slug":"india-vs-pakistan-how-teams-prepared-for-heated-asia-cup-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/14\/india-vs-pakistan-how-teams-prepared-for-heated-asia-cup-match\/","title":{"rendered":"India vs Pakistan: How teams prepared for heated Asia Cup match"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Dubai, United Arab Emirates \u2013<\/strong> A day prior to the marquee India-Pakistan cricket clash at the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai, it\u2019s a tale of two teams positioned on opposite ends of the pre-match hype metre as political frenzy envelops the fixture.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of the hoopla, the game of cricket has been reduced to a supporting act.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/12\/asia-cup-post-conflict-india-vs-pakistan-cricket-match-divides-opinion\">Cricket after conflict: \u2018Worst time for an India-Pakistan match\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/8\/india-vs-pakistan-t20-asia-cup-2025-war-overshadows-sri-lanka-bangladesh-afghanistan-final\">Asia Cup: Is politically-charged India vs Pakistan match driven by profit?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/11\/best-india-vs-pakistan-matches-at-the-asia-cup-afridi-kohli-classics\">India vs Pakistan at Asia Cup: Three classics to relive before September 14<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/11\/india-vs-pakistan-asia-cup-2025-match-start-time-team-news-and-lineups\">All to know about India vs Pakistan at the T20 Asia Cup<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>India\u2019s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate faced the heat as his side\u2019s designated news conference representative on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The former Netherlands international cricketer was sent to tackle a barrage of questions on the tense atmosphere in the wake of the four-day conflict in May, when the South Asian archrivals came close to an all-out war.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the pre-tournament news conference, where media persons were discouraged from asking political questions, Saturday\u2019s event was heavier on politics and lighter on cricket.<\/p>\n<p>Doeschate, who has been part of the Indian coaching set-up for over a year, was asked to talk about the players\u2019 mindset in the lead-up to the match and whether the simmering sentiments back home will affect them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will play on the minds of the players, who share the compassion of the Indian public,\u201d Doeschate said.<\/p>\n<p>However, the coach urged them to \u201cput the sentiments and emotions behind\u201d when they step on the field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something we have addressed in the dressing room in team meetings. We are aware of the feelings [of Indian fans], but the guys have to play for their country, so they will be as professional and focused as they can be given the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the conversation occasionally turned to India\u2019s team combination for the match and tackling a new-look Pakistani T20 side, some sections of the media kept steering it back to themes such as \u201cusing the sports field as an avenue for protest [against the opponent]\u201d and, cynically, protecting the players from the outside noise.<\/p>\n<p>However, ten Doeschate was careful in his handling of questions on the delicate theme and did not attempt to shut down the constant probing.<\/p>\n<p>He revealed India head coach Gautam Gambhir\u2019s message to the dressing room in the lead-up to the Pakistan match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been about being professional, not worrying about things not in our control and trying to be emotionless when approaching the cricket side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 45-year-old former allrounder wrapped up by saying the way the Indian team plays on Sunday will \u201crepresent how the players feel about the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3946050\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3946050\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AFP__20250909__73WV29G__v1__HighRes__CricketAsia2025IndPractice-1757776845.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"India's captain Suryakumar Yadav (L) and head coach Gautam Gambhir attend a practice session at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Academy in Dubai on September 9, 2025, on the eve of their Asia Cup 2025 Twenty20 international cricket match against United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN \/ AFP)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3946050\">India\u2019s captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir at a practice session [File: Sajjad Hussain\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"just-another-cricket-match\">\u2018Just another cricket match\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, Pakistan took the opposite approach to the media scrutiny by sending Saim Ayub, a very nonchalant young member of the squad, to deal with the barrage of critical and deceptively political questions.<\/p>\n<p>The allrounder flat-batted the inquest into Pakistan\u2019s inability to beat India in recent games by repeating the \u201cpast is past\u201d mantra that every athlete knows so well.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan\u2019s last win over India, in all formats and competitions, came in October 2021, when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan guided them home by 10 wickets.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old has never played a match against India, and when he was asked to recount his experience of being on the reserves\u2019 bench during the India-Pakistan game at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, he simply blamed amnesia for his inability to recall his feelings from last June.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could have answered your question better had you asked last year,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n<p>Ayub, whose main role in the team is to open the batting, has seen a dip in his run-scoring form since his return from injury this year.<\/p>\n<p>In his 15 T20I innings since May, Ayub has scored 40 or more runs on four occasions, only one of which came during the recent tri-nation T20 series in the UAE.<\/p>\n<p>The left-handed batter dealt with the criticism of his performance with a smirk and said, \u201cThe same player can\u2019t be expected to win the match every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe team is made up of 11 players, and we try that every player stands up on a different day. We can only try to give our best effort and hope that the result goes our way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it was his turn to face questions on the hyped up match and how it could lead to on-field nerves, Ayub was happy to term it \u201cjust another cricket match\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can be a big fixture for some people, but for us, it\u2019s just another match where we must improve our performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A changed-up Pakistan team led by a new captain and coach will look to change the recent trend in results against India, while their opponents will aim to not only win the contest on the pitch, but also placate a charged-up fanbase back home.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3946064\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3946064\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AFP__20250912__74B74ZQ__v1__HighRes__CricketAsia2025T20OmaPak-1757776928.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi tosses a ball before the start of the Asia Cup 2025 Twenty20 international cricket match between Oman and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on September 12, 2025. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN \/ AFP)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3946064\">Pakistan will rely on Shaheen Shah Afridi\u2019s experience against India on Sunday [Sajjad Hussain\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dubai, United Arab Emirates \u2013 A day prior to the marquee India-Pakistan cricket clash at the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai, it\u2019s a tale of two teams positioned on opposite ends of the pre-match hype metre as political frenzy envelops the fixture. As a result of the hoopla, the game of cricket has been reduced &#8230; <a title=\"India vs Pakistan: How teams prepared for heated Asia Cup match\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/14\/india-vs-pakistan-how-teams-prepared-for-heated-asia-cup-match\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about India vs Pakistan: How teams prepared for heated Asia Cup match\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}