As you must have read by now, I have accepted the challenge to become the first captain to win the EurAsia Cup outright when we take on Team Europe in January next year.

This will be the second edition of the biennial Ryder Cup-style event between the two continents. The inaugural EurAsia Cup in 2014 ended in a thrilling tie after Asia pulled back from being 5-0 down after the first day and 7-3 on day two, to make up for the deficit in the final-day singles.

So, the team that wins the 2016 tournament will rightfully be the first winners of EurAsia Cup, and that is a big, big incentive for us in Asia. As members of the Asian Tour, we take great pride in what we have achieved so far, and a win against Europe, who have so completely dominated the sport when they play as a team, would be the perfect milestone in our journey towards becoming a golfing superpower.

Hence, it is with a great sense of pride, and humility, that I have taken up the responsibility. I am very aware of how much this tournament means to Asian golf. And while all will be forgotten and forgiven for the Europeans if they lose to us and still manage to beat the Americans at Hazeltine next year, a win for us will be cherished and remembered for a long, long time into the future.

My counterpart in Europe is Darren Clarke. It really is difficult for me to visualise Darren as a rival because I share a great relationship with him and we have been close friends for nearly two decades now. Even though the big man has remarkably reduced himself to almost half his size, his heart remains as huge as ever.

While I cannot guarantee you as of now how good the tournament will be in terms of competition, with Darren on the other side I can assure you this — we will play hard and fair, and to the truest spirit of golf. I have been in Europe since the time the decision was made and I haven’t yet had a chance to speak to all my potential teammates, but I can sense a real feeling of anticipation and quiet confidence — helped by what we did in the inaugural event. And the fact that there are four ‘Asian’ players who have qualified for the Presidents Cup this year makes it even more fantastic.

Anirban Lahiri and Thongchai Jaidee have been in exemplary form this season, and consistently performing on the big stage. They will surely be my key players, but there are many others who have proven themselves time and again on the international scene.

I am extremely excited at what the future holds for us. These next few weeks are going to be very important as we gather our troops and plan our assault strategy and, come January 17, we will hopefully make Asia proud.

— Jeev Milkha Singh is a four-time champion on the European Tour