India coach provides selection hints ahead of Asia Cup opener

India bowling coach Morne Morkel has provided some insight into how his side may line-up for their opening clash against UAE at the Asia Cup.

The eight-time Asia Cup champions have been battling the hot and humid conditions in Dubai ahead of their tournament opener against the hosts on September 10 and Morkel suggested the team had yet to settle on their likely XI for the eagerly-awaited contest.

India successfully used a four-pronged spin attack during their last visit to Dubai at the ICC Champions Trophy event earlier this year, but Morkel believes conditions may require a different approach this time around.

“Again, we need to go and look at the wicket. I think when the Champions Trophy was played at that time, there was a lot of cricket on the surfaces here and they looked a little bit tired," Morkel said.

“So again, tonight we will have a first look at the surface and I believe there is quite a bit of grass covering on the square. So we will have a good idea going into the first game in terms of what is sort of a better way to go, but in terms of planning at the moment, we are covering all bases and then we will make a decision on match day."

If India do elect to play an extra pacer then left-armer Arshdeep Singh may get the chance to partner pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah with the new-ball, while fellow seamer Harshit Rana is another option alongside experienced all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

India also have a bevy of spin options at their disposal should they wish to utilise, with Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav all in contention to feature against UAE if selectors opt to bolster their slow bowling options.

Kuldeep bowled well in tandem alongside Chakaravarthy during the Champions Trophy before sitting out the entire recent Test series against England and Morkel believes the talented left-armer will be ready to perform well should he earn selection.

“I think he is a very professional athlete. His attitude since England, where he received hardly any game time, he is still the guy that put the overs in," Morkel said of Kuldeep.

“And for me, Kuldeep, like I said, he has bowled a lot of overs in his career. He knows what to do to get himself ready for T20s, white-ball cricket. And like I said, we can control only what we can control now and that is when we do train now and when we have our sessions, that it is focused, that there is a purpose behind it and we have goals,"

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, 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.

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