India’s Asia Cup defence could hardly have started more smoothly – or more swiftly. UAE, buoyant after tidy outings against Pakistan and Afghanistan in the recent tri-series, were rushed out for 57 in 13.1 overs at Dubai on Tuesday evening. The home side lost eight wickets for ten runs once the powerplay had closed, Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube sharing seven wickets while Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy applied the early squeeze.
UAE’s openers gave their supporters a brief thrill, reaching 41 for 2 in six overs. Alishan Sharafu flicked Bumrah for successive fours; Muhammad Waseem deposited Axar Patel over cow corner. And then it fell apart.
“Once we found a bit of grip, it was just about bowling stump-to-stump,” Kuldeep explained afterwards. He returned 4 for 7, ripping out three in his second over: Rahul Chopra holed out to long-on, Waseem missed a sweep, and left-hander Harshit Kaushik was done by a classical wrong ’un. “That ball felt nice out of the hand,” the wrist-spinner added with a grin.
Dube – picked to lengthen the batting at No. 8 – chipped in with 3 for 4, tidy medium-pace that relied more on variation than pace. “He hits the splice a lot, which is handy on this surface,” India assistant coach Paras Mhambrey noted.
Bumrah, unusually given three powerplay overs, nicked off Sharafu to open the slide, while Varun’s fastish off-breaks accounted for Aryan Lakra. All told, five Indian bowlers featured in the wickets column.
UAE will rue reckless shot-selection as much as the quality on show. Coach Mudassar Nazar admitted: “We tried to attack too early. Against a side like India you have to earn the release ball.” Only Sharafu (22) reached double figures; the last four partnerships combined for five runs.
There was a moment of sportsmanship, too. No. 10 Junaid Siddique was stumped after wandering out of his crease, but captain Suryakumar Yadav withdrew the appeal. The reprieve lasted one ball; Junaid skied Dube to the same skipper at mid-off.
India’s chase, weather permitting, should be straightforward, yet Rohit Sharma insisted there would be “no complacency – runs still have to be scored”. A fair point, though, on this evidence the champions look settled already.
