After an inspired show in the second half that gave them a 1-1 draw against Oman on Thursday, India will take on United Arab Emirates in their second friendly in four days at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai on Monday.
After a slow start, India improved in the second period as head coach Igor Stimac rung in some changes. With the eye on the Asian Cup qualifying campaign in June, the coach revealed that there will be more changes to the line-up.
The Croatian tactician gave six players their debuts before bringing four more off the bench against Oman.
"These friendlies are preparations for the upcoming camp (before qualifiers). These games are used to find who will be there in the camp, so I need to see everyone," said Stimac on Sunday.
Apuia - who came on at the break and added balance to the midfield - is in line for a start in the national colours. As are centre back Mashoor Shereef and Adil Khan. Sandesh Jhingan will not feature in the game, the coach revealed.
With the coach keen to see all his players in action, there might also be an opportunity to see more of Ishan Pandita. The striker has been prolific in the ISL but is yet to play even 45 minutes of a single game. He'll have to battle against Manvir Singh, who scored the goal against Oman and has earned the coach's trust in a position that is clearly the most shallow for the national team.
Stimac is also hoping his team performs better than they did against Oman, but admitted that UAE will be a tougher challenge.
India can take heart from their match against UAE in the 2019 Asian Cup where they fought valiantly, but unsuccessfully.
"Problem in the first half (against Oman) was, not winning second balls. We were not organised and were far from each other as a unit. This allowed space for the opponents. In international football, if there is space you will get hurt. It's not the ISL. But the back four was very good," said Stimac.
"I expect UAE to be more difficult, more technical. They play quicker and put high pressure. But that's why we are here, to gain experience. We need to survive that. I don't expect us to control the game."
Meanwhile Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is also expected to start. Now a senior figure in the team, the goalkeeper believes that the fear factor is lesser and lesser among the players due to exposure to bigger teams in recent years.
"Since coach Igor has taken over, the approach has been to win games. These are tough games. More we play such teams, the less fear we feel. Last 3-4 years we've been playing tough teams so there is no fear," he said.