If Suryakumar Yadav was experiencing any nerves ahead of his first captaincy experience in a multi-team event, those were nowhere in evidence at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. The Indian captain was at his jovial best, clearly the cynosure at a press conference involving captains of all eight teams in contention for the T20 Asia Cup.

India’s quest for supremacy

Suryakumar’s India will begin their quest for continental supremacy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday evening, against home team UAE, in a match pitting the local favourites against the nominated tournament hosts. On the face of it, this is a contest of unequals — India are the World Cup champions and the No. 1 side in the world, UAE are ranked a lowly 15th and are coming off four consecutive defeats, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, in a tri-series that ended in Sharjah on Sunday.