India vs UAE: In a mismatch, UAE have a huge gulf to cross

Match previews are about weighing teams, but in this case getting the scale out would be an epic waste of time. These are two sets of men on either side of the World Cup spectrum. If India with a Cup in hand is ‘Violet’, UAE, the wooden spoon contender, is the lowly, dimly Yellow. On Saturday at Perth, one team will have office-goers and part-timers, the other has men who own offices and employ full-time minders.

READ: India vs UAE, a contest once every decade since 1994 

Touching upon the other preview staple — the ‘head-to-head’ comparison of rival players — too will be purely puerile. UAE as a nation hasn’t even played one-tenth of the ODIs Dhoni has appeared in. Dhoni: 256, UAE 20.

READ: M S Dhoni injured during practice; management says no worries 

Now for clues from the nets, that another important indicator that helps a reporter understand the mood of teams and the intensity of players before the match. That too will be misleading at WACA.

PAKISTAN FLAVOUR

The UAE are a lively bunch. They first played with a frisbee, followed it up with a funny walk relay race and after training were giggling, mimicking and pulling each other’s legs while in the dressing room with glass windows.  The team’s two Pakistan coaches —Mudassar Nazar and Aaqib Javed ���  obliged all interview requests. They were realistic; they spoke about gaining experience, the journey meaning more than the destination.

Occasionally, a player, mostly of Indian origin, would walk out of the dressing room and he would speak about not getting over-awed by playing against top stars. Their captain Mohammad Tauqir , at the press conference, showed confidence and insisted that his players wouldn’t be overawed by the big stars he is facing. A fellow journalist, sitting next to you, smirks. UAE’s sudden freeze in the final moments of the Ireland game comes to mind. Off-the-field, the UAE tour party comes across as a group of college kids that are under the watch of an indulgent professor. Aaqib says that he isn’t a coach who believes in curfews. But he adds that he reminds them that they need to be responsible. And in case they are not, don’t expect him to defend them.

The Indians, who have the afternoon nets, are less audible than their rivals. So it was time to lean on that not-always-reliable tool of judging a team’s disposition — body language. Like disciplined school kids, they walked in a row towards the dressing room with Ravi Shastri in front. Suresh Raina would playfully nudge Aaqib, who was still facing a camera and talking about Pakistan’s bad start to the World Cup. Had someone not been following this World Cup, the Indians would be interpreted as giving confusing signals. They could either be silently subdued or quietly confident.

The thought of an upset does cross the mind. It fades away watching South Africa’s 237 runs humiliation of West Indies and recalling India’s 130 runs dissemination of South Africa. Cricket’s game of uncertainty but not when India play UAE infront of 25,000 flag-waving, ‘Jeetega bhai jeetega’ shouting fans.

The only point of debate on Saturday will be about Mohammad Shami’s replacement. Shami has been ruled out of the UAE game because of injury. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny were the two options and both inclusions could be justified by cricketing reasons. A game for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, against UAE, would be an easy return.

Even playing Stuart Binny would be fair as Perth will be a good outing for the all-rounder before the games in New Zealand, where he can be expected to play. Maybe, for all you know, both could be on the field and a spinner could be on drinks duty. And so, the India vs UAE game had contrived to find itself some semblance of suspense. Get up early and find out who — Bhuvneshwar or Binny or both—  will be part of India’s third big win of this World Cup.