It would be intriguing to know how much time India have spent researching the first opponents in their Asia Cup defence.
The holders are up against the UAE in their opening pool match on Wednesday evening at Dubai International Stadium.
Whether they have been poring over footage of Muhammad Waseem and his team, looking for flaws, feels unlikely.
Back in 2015, when the two sides met in the Cricket World Cup in Australia, Shikhar Dhawan was asked on the eve of the match if they knew much about their opposition.
He looked a little taken aback by the question before saying: “Um, I’m sure we’ll watch some video of them this evening.”
Either way, it made little difference. That day in Perth, India bowled the UAE out in a little over two hours, chased it in less time than a T20 innings would take, and spent the rest of the afternoon playing football.
Had he been minded to, though, Dhawan might have taken on board a little advice: don’t hit the ball in their air anywhere near Rohan Mustafa.
The left-handed opener’s was the only wicket India lost in their rout of the national team, dismissed by a spectacular one-handed catch by Mustafa at backward point.
“I was young, and a good fielder at point at that time,” Mustafa, now 36, said.
“Dhawan was playing well, they were chasing really easily. And I always say these kind of catches are just a fluke; it stuck in the hand, rather than me taking it.
“Even now, whenever I field at point, I always stand really close to the batter because I think you should never give a single away from there.
“The Perth wicket was bouncy and when he hit it, I just saw it for a split second. I jumped, and it got stuck in my hand. Even I was surprised I took it.”
That was one of very few good memories the national team have of that day. They had been dogged enough to that point in their first appearance at an ODI World Cup in the best part of two decades.
They showed up well in narrow defeats against Zimbabwe and Ireland before they were trounced by the Indians in Perth.
It wasn’t altogether a shock. India had a side including greats like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
MS Dhoni, India’s wicketkeeper, had been ahead of Neymar in the Forbes list for most bankable athletes that year. His opposite number, Swapnil Patil, was taking unpaid leave from his day job as a receptionist.
“Before we had played ILT20-type tournaments, whenever we faced the Test countries, we used to think, ‘Wow, we are playing all these players we have seen on the TV’,” Mustafa said.
“After playing things like ILT, you get used to playing against players from Test nations. The best come to play, and you can say things like, ‘OK, I have faced Lockie Ferguson, and he is one of the fastest bowlers for New Zealand’.
“You play another few players like that, then later on you are more relaxed. When we used to play against them, we hadn’t faced any international cricketers at that time. It was different and difficult for us to face international bowling attacks.
“It is in your mind that they do something different, but it is nothing like that. They just do the basic things well.”
Clearly, India’s players did have the odd trick up their sleeves, too. Ashwin, their mystery spinner, is known for it.
He took 4-25 in Perth as the UAE were shot out for 102 in 31.3 overs. Mustafa was not one of his victims – or at least not officially.
“Ashwin was bowling to me,” Mustafa said. “We were very new to everything. I nicked the second ball I faced; Suresh Raina was standing at slip.
“Dhoni was asking, ‘Was there any nick?’ Raina said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Dhoni said he thought he’d heard something.
“It was a nick, but they didn’t review. So, whenever people say Dhoni was a 100 per cent on these things, I always remember my nick.”
Mustafa’s stay of execution was not a long one. He was dismissed lbw to Mohit Sharma for two – “normal ball, normal length, normal pace, I just missed it,” he said – as the UAE quickly unravelled.
Shortly after he had departed, the UAE were mired at 61 for seven. It was at that point that their second highlight of the day – apart from Mustafa’s catch, which happened in the chase – occurred.
Mohammed Naveed, the UAE’s fast bowler, came to the wicket in the 22nd over, with his team direly placed. He promptly smashed his first ball straight back over Ravindra Jadeja’s head for a huge six.
“Nedo was so confident,” Mustafa said of Naveed, a fast-bowler who was later lost to the sport when he was banned for corruption offences.
“Even now when I go for cricket, I always remember him because he was one of the most confident guys I ever saw in my life.
“He gave me a lot of ideas for how to approach things. You have to have confidence. That was always how he did well in his bowling.
“Whenever he used to go to bat, he always used to say, ‘Aaqib-bhai, [UAE coach, Aaqib Javed] I can hit sixes.’ He hit a few in that World Cup.”
“Jadeja was taking wickets, we were under pressure, and everyone was telling him to take singles and spend time at the wicket. First ball he hit for six. We were laughing in the dressing room.”
