Admirer of Tendulkar, inspired by Pandya, UAE's Alishan Sharafu ready for India challenge in Asia Cup

Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) An admirer of Sachin Tendulkar's genius and inspired by Hardik Pandya's fighting spirit, UAE batter Alishan Sharafu is looking forward to the challenge of facing India in the Asia Cup starting September 9.

UAE is placed in Group A alongside India and Pakistan, with Oman being the fourth team. Sharafu said the hosts being clubbed with heavyweights like India and Pakistan is a great learning opportunity. India and the UAE will clash on September 10.

"I wouldn't say it's any pressure or nervousness because you want to do well against these teams. We are looking at it as an opportunity. India, obviously (are) one of the best sides in world cricket right now, (so) who wouldn't want to do well?," he said in an interaction organised by Sony Sports, the official broadcasters of the tournament.

"We do not necessarily want to focus too much on the opponent and we want to stick to what we want to do, and focus on just playing good cricket. If we back ourselves, then anything could be possible.

"Similarly with Pakistan as well. Yes, they are missing a few names (Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan), but, they are still very good players so (we would) just take it one game at a time," he added.

The 22-year-old Sharafu said he grew up admiring players like Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, but draws a lot of inspiration from Hardik Pandya and Ben Stokes.

"Hardik is one player that I really admire. I like the way he plays and the calmness and composure that he offers to his team. He's a fighter; he has had his ups and downs. As an athlete, that's one quality that you have to possess just looking at the way he goes about his cricket, it's just admirable," he said.

"I've looked up to Ben Stokes and Hardik Pandya for just the fighters that they've been and (all that) they offer," he added.

With the T20I series win over Bangladesh in May, UAE have gained in confidence. Sharafu said nonethless it would be a challenge to ace the hot and humid conditions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi -- the two venues of the tournament.

Sharafu, whose unbeaten 68 helped UAE record only their second series win over an ICC Full Member this year, said the triumph over Bangladesh will hold his team in good stead in the eight-team competition.

"It's great for our confidence as a team, knowing that we can go out there and beat some of these big teams that play Test cricket. Even in that series, we could have beaten them 3-0 but we missed out in the first game.

"The players are in a really good space knowing that on their day they can beat these big teams," he said.

"I feel that it's going to be relatively difficult for spinners with how humid it has been. We've seen in the last few practice games that we've played, spinners have been finding it difficult to grip the ball a little more because of how humid it's been; just sweat and moisture in the air," he added.

Sharafu, who averages over 30 in 50 T20Is with a strike rate of nearly 134, finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in T20Is in 2024 with 770 runs. He is hoping to find his rhythm in one-day cricket as well.

"I've had a little more success and better stats in T20s. I started off relatively young into international cricket, so initially in 50 overs, I batted in a lot of different numbers," he said. PTI DDV PM DDV PM PM