By Faham Uddin

Copyright timesnownews

India will begin their Asia Cup campaign against the UAE at the Dubai International Stadium today, September 10. There is no doubt India will be a tough team to beat in the tournament. The quality in the squad, the conditions, and the experience of winning major events – everything points towards an Indian juggernaut – something similar to what happened in the ICC Champions Trophy in the UAE, where India won undefeated. But T20 is a format where the chances of an upset are significantly higher than in other formats. India won’t be overpowered by any team in the tournament, and if they play to their potential, they should convincingly win all games. They’re put in a relatively easy group that has Oman and Pakistan as the other teams. Oman and the UAE don’t have the quality to sustain pressure on India, even if they take a lead in the match for a few overs, making an upset unlikely. Toss Could Play Spoilsport For IndiaBut the game against Pakistan and the Super 4 matches could be prone to upsets if a few things don’t go India’s way. Toss will be among the top factors that could contribute to upsets against India. The teams winning the toss mostly prefer to chase in the UAE because of the dew factor. If the toss doesn’t go India’s way in big games, and they are forced to defend a score, the team will have to aim for significantly bigger totals as defending won’t be easy. India arguably have the best bowlers lineup in the competition, but heavy dew could neutralise them, and teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan could take advantage of it. And we saw a glimpse of how dew could make bowling tough, even for the most experienced spinners, in the first game between Hong Kong and Afghanistan, where the Afghan spinners struggled to grip the ball. Hong Kong lacked the quality to take advantage, but top teams won’t let such an opportunity go.