Far away from the loud noise in India’s national television channels, asking the country’s cricket fans to boycott India’s Asia Cup clash against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, journalists from both countries were mingling freely at the press conference room of the Dubai International Stadium.

But sensing what could be in store ahead of the highly charged encounter, the Indian management decided to play it safe.

Instead of the captain Suryakumar Yadav or any other senior member of the team, it was the team’s Dutch assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate who faced the media less than 24 hours before the start of the first cricket match between India and Pakistan following the four-day military conflict between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.

Ten Doeschate was quick to set the record straight — that the Indian team shares the sentiments of their public, but they are only here to play the Asia Cup after the government had made their stance clear on facing Pakistan in multi-team international events.

“I think it’s a very sensitive issue, no doubt players share the compassion and the feeling of the vast majority of the Indian public,” the former Dutch international said, referring to the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.

India blamed Pakistan-backed terrorists for the attack — a claim strongly rejected by the Pakistani government.

What followed was a deadly four-day military conflict until a ceasefire was announced on May 10.

Amid the geopolitical turmoil, the fate of the Asia Cup was hanging by a thread. But last month, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the tournament would go ahead in the UAE, not India, the original hosts, paving the way for the India-Pakistan clash in the tournament.

'Players are professionals'

Ten Doeschate reaffirmed the players’ sentiments about the very sensitive Indian public.

“The Asia Cup was in limbo for a long period of time, we were just waiting, we didn’t think we were going to be coming at one stage, but you know what the Indian government’s stance on it is,” he said.

“And now the team and particularly the players, certainly addressed the people’s sentiments in the team meeting today, so we are aware of the people’s feelings, but the guys have got a chance to play for their country, and try to be as professional and as focused as they can be given the circumstances.”

The assistant coach also made it clear that the Indian team would not use the match against Pakistan to make any political statement.

“Hopefully, the way we will play is going to represent how the players feel about their country,” he said.

“I understand the sentiments, but we are following what the BCCI and the Government of India have decided is right for the country at the moment.”

Same preparations

The team is going through their preparations like any other India-Pakistan match in the past, despite the extreme hype and buzz around Sunday’s clash in Dubai.

“For this game, we have not prepared differently,” he said.

“We are aware of the sentiments and strong feelings of the public. They will try to be emotionless when it comes to the cricket side of it in the match. The guys are professional, but the messaging has been to just focus on cricket.”

In terms of cricket, India are clear favourites against a young Pakistan team.

Having won 17 of their last 21 matches following their 2024 T20 World Cup win, India are brimming with confidence as they look to add to their impressive haul of trophies — the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 2025 Champions Trophy.

“The record is incredible; we have been consistent. So looking at the records, yes, India do start as favourites,” Ten Doeschate said.

“But tomorrow, the team that will be more consistent for 120 balls with the bat and 120 balls with the ball will win. So we have a task ahead, and so we have to stay grounded and just be focused on getting the job done.”

Pakistan, on the other hand, are still trying to find their groove after injecting fresh blood in the team following the controversial decision of dropping Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam from the Asia Cup squad.

“They have come to terms about how they want to play T20 cricket. So it’s going to be a different challenge,” Ten Doeschate said.

“We want to focus on what we will be doing and how we want to play.”

New-look Pakistan

While both India and Pakistan won their opening matches against the UAE and Oman, respectively, Pakistan’s inexperienced batting unit is likely to face a big challenge against the strong Indian attack featuring Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s best fast bowler, and two world-class spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.

Despite the relative inexperience in the Pakistan team, India’s team management has spent hours in analysing their strengths and style of play.

“Pakistan have decided to change the direction of how they want to play their cricket. Obviously, Pakistan want to go a different way and we have done a lot of homework on the guys they have brought in,” he said.

“They have fairly inexperienced guys, but probably more dangerous in terms of how they want to play. We have got our plans and strategies to tackle that tomorrow (Sunday).”