India vs UAE, a contest once every decade since 1994

India and UAE faced each other only twice before - once in 1994 and the other meeting was in 2004.

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India will play UAE in Perth on Saturday, ten years since the two teams last met. (Source: Reuters)

India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) will play each other for the first time in a World Cup on Saturday at Perth. But the two sides have already played each other twice before. Interestingly, India and UAE seem to play each other in an ODI once every decade with the previous ones being held in 1994 and 2004. (Full Coverage| Points table| Fixtures)

The first-ever encounter between India and UAE took place in April 1994 at Sharjah in the third and final edition of Australasia Cup. That was also incidentally the first-ever ODI that UAE ever featured in. Just months before that tournament, UAE had qualified for their first-ever World Cup appearance in 1996 in the Indian subcontinent.

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India batted first in that encounter in 1994, putting up 273 for five in their overs. Sachin Tendulkar (63), skipper Mohammed Azharuddin (81) and player of the match Vinod Kambli (82 not out) were the top-scorers for India.

The chase for UAE seemed to be progressing well with Mazhar Hussain (70) and former Delhi junior player Vijay Mehra (43) adding 94 runs for the third wicket. But then the chase fell apart as seamers Javagal Srinath (3-49) and debutant Bhupinder Singh Senior (3-34) shared the spoils between them as India won by 71 runs.

India and UAE were in different groups at the 1996 World Cup, so they did not have a chance to play each other.

India’s next encounter against UAE was in the 2004 Asia Cup at Dambulla, Sri Lanka. The only two survivors from either side in 1994, were Tendulkar and Anil Kumble. India batted first yet again, this time making 260 for six in their 50 overs.

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Player of the match Rahul Dravid (104) and skipper Sourav Ganguly (56) starred in the Indian innings. The chase for UAE never took off as they slipped to 45 for six and UAE’s current skipper Mohammad Tauqir delayed the inevitable with a stubborn 55. Irfan Pathan (3-28) and Tendulkar (3-21) were the chief wicket-takers for India as they won by 116 runs.

The two sides were in different groups at the 2008 Asia Cup in Pakistan and hence could not play each other. That was incidnetally the last time UAE featured in a major multi-nation tournament, before the current World Cup, also featuring Test playing nations.

The two sides meet each other for a third time, again a decade after their last match. This time there are just two survivors from the last encounter and both are from UAE – skipper Tauqir and senior batsman, captain in 2004, Khurram Khan.

For India, from the playing XI in 2004, there is no one in the current World Cup squad. In fact five of the 11 players from the 2004 playing XI – Tendulkar, Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Dravid and Kumble – have retired. Of the others, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji are toiling away in Ranji Trophy. Zaheer Khan, on the other hand, is preparing for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.