Team India will kick off their Asia Cup 2025 campaign on Wednesday, September 10, with their first match against the United Arab Emirates at the Dubai International Stadium.

Ahead of the clash, several questions surround India’s team combination - Who will don the wicketkeeping gloves? Which pair will open the innings? And what bowling attack will the skipper rely on?

To address these, here’s a look at the likely playing XIs of both sides.

India vs UAE Head-to-Head

India and UAE have locked horns only twice in Asia Cup history, with India emerging victorious on both occasions.

Additionally, the two teams have met just once in T20 internationals, which India also won. Despite this, UAE cannot be taken lightly, especially as they are playing at home and will be eager to use familiar conditions to their advantage.

IND vs UAE Probable Playing XIs

India (Predicted XI): Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh.

UAE (Predicted XI): Muhammad Wasim (captain), Muhammad Zohaib, Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra (wk), Harshit Kaushik, Ethan D’Souza, Dhruv Parashar, Sagir Khan, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddiqui.

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

UAE Squad: Muhammad Wasim (C), Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddiqui, Matiullah Khan, Mohammad Farooq, Mohammad Javdullah, Mohammad Zoheb, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma (wk), Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Rahul Chopra (wk), Rohit Khan, Simranjit Singh, Sagir Khan.

India enter the contest as favorites, but UAE’s local knowledge and home advantage could make this an intriguing battle.