NEW DELHI: The Suryakumar Yadav-led India team will likely prefer to bat first and make the most of the 20 overs when they take on an embattled Oman in their final Asia Cup group-stage game in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Having already qualified for the Super 4s and with the crucial rematch against arch-rivals Pakistan looming on Sunday, the Oman clash offers the perfect opportunity for the team management to get some much-needed practice with the bat after two low-scoring, one-sided chases in their opening games.

While Abhishek Sharma has delivered a couple of explosive starts, Shubman Gill may aim to bat longer. Suryakumar Yadav had a solid outing against Pakistan, but he would like Tilak Varma to get more time at the crease.

Ideally, India's middle-order trio of Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, along with Axar Patel, will want to get some meaningful time at the crease before the intense week of the tournament begins, with four games scheduled in just seven days if India reach the final.

Given the quality of the Indian bowling attack, there is every chance the match could finish early if Oman bats first, as Jatinder Singh and his teammates will face a tough challenge against the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.

In their two games against Pakistan and the UAE, Oman's batting struggled to find form, highlighting their vulnerability.

The two totals of 67 and 130, while chasing in a losing cause, don't exactly paint a rosy picture. Such has been their plight that across two games, not a single batter has crossed the individual score of 30.

Hammad Mirza scored 27 against Pakistan while Aryan Bisht made a painstaking 24 off 32 balls against UAE.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir might not like to experiment too much with the line-up except for giving a bit of breather to his lethal weapon Jasprit Bumrah -- that too if he chooses to -- before the Super 4s.

With only four overs to bowl and well rested after the Pakistan game, Bumrah himself might not want a break that badly but one needs to be extra cautious when it comes to taking care of the "jewel in the crown".

That will also give the team a chance to check out Arshdeep Singh, who has been missing out due to the think tank's obsession with multi-skilled cricketers and batting depth till No. 8.

If Gambhir wants to be slightly more experimental, then he can also play Harshit Rana, giving one among Varun or Kuldeep a rest. This will also be the only game where Suryakumar can rejig his batting order a bit.

On a different note, it will also be a welcome departure from all the unwanted controversy surrounding Suryakumar and his team's refusal to shake hands with Pakistan players as a mark of respect for the 26 Indian tourists killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.

The only unknown factor will be the track at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, where India will play their only game of this tournament. In fact, the Indian team isn't even going to Abu Dhabi for training as it's a two-hour one-way bus drive.

In any case, the Indian team does a mandatory three-hour net session on training days and a four-hour bus journey (two on either side) would have certainly exhausted the players.

Therefore, they have opted for the 'in and out' policy wherein they travel on match day, play the game and return at night before taking an entire Saturday off ahead of playing Pakistan on Sunday.

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Oman: Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla, Sufyan Yousuf, Ashish Odedera, Aamir Kaleem, Mohammed Nadeem, Sufyan Mehmood, Aryan Bisht, Karan Sonavale, Zikriya Islam, Hassnain Ali Shah, Faisal Shah, Muhammed Imran, Nadeem Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, Samay Shrivastava.

Match Starts: 8 pm IST.

(With PTI Inputs)