3 UAE players India must be vary of ahead of Women's Asia Cup 2024 clash ft. Esha Oza  

India are set to take on UAE in their second game of the Women's Asia Cup 2024 in Dambulla on Sunday, July 21. The Women in Blue got off to a fantastic start by beating Pakistan comprehensively by seven wickets.

Electing to bat first, Pakistan could only post 108 on the board and the target was comfortably chased down by the Indians in the 15th over. They now have an opportunity to potentially seal their place in the semifinal by beating UAE.

It has been a tough start for UAE as they were beaten by Nepal in their opening game of the Women's Asia Cup. Batting first, UAE posted 115/8 in their 20 overs and Nepal chased down the target in the 17th over with six wickets in hand. They will need to be at their absolute best to beat the Indians and keep their hopes alive in the competition.

On that note, let's take a look at three players from the UAE team that India will need to be wary of going into the crucial encounter:

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#1 Esha Oza

UAE skipper Esha Oza is one of their best players and has the ability to do significant damage at the top of the order. In 80 T20I games, Oza has scored 2,084 runs at a strike rate of 113.26 including nine half-centuries and three hundreds.

She was run out for just 10 in the previous game against Nepal and that was one of the main reasons why UAE couldn't post a competitive total. India will need to get rid of the UAE skipper as early as they can so that she doesn't get set and give her team a platform to launch from.

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#2 Kavisha Egodage

Kavisha Egodage had a decent outing against Nepal, contributing 22 with the bat and putting on a crucial partnership with Khushi Sharma to stabilize UAE's innings.

Egodage then was the pick of the bowlers for UAE as she picked up three wickets and conceded just 12 runs in her four overs. The Indians will know that even if they take early wickets upfront, Egodage has the ability to contribute crucial runs in the lower middle-order. Her handy off-spin will also be a challenge on the slow Dambulla surface.

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#3 Vaishnave Mahesh

Vaishnave Mahesh didn't have the best of outings in the first game against Nepal as she conceded 26 runs in her three overs. However, that doesn't diminish the quality she possesses with her leg-spin.

The 17-year-old has already played 69 T20I matches in which she has picked up as many as 82 wickets at an economy rate of 4.77. The pitch in Dambulla is likely to grip for the spinners and if Vaishnave gets into her groove, she could cause the Indian batters problems.