Dubai: On his return to the T20I team after playing 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup final, Kuldeep Yadav became the wrecker-in-chief with extraordinary figures of 4-7, as India thrashed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by nine wickets to open their 2025 Men’s Asia Cup campaign in a commanding fashion.
On a cool evening at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, UAE made a promising start by reaching 47/2 in eight overs, with opener Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu finding early boundaries. But after that, it became an evening for them to forget.
Kuldeep came in and took three wickets in his second over to lead the charge for a sensational UAE batting meltdown, as the side lost their next eight wickets for just 10 runs. Their score of 57 in 13.1 overs is also the lowest men’s T20I score for a team playing against India.
Shivam Dube, operating as India’s third seam bowling option, chipped in with three wickets to further derail UAE’s innings, while Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel chipped in with a wicket apiece. Abhishek Sharma (30) and Shubman Gill (20 not out) tore into the UAE bowling attack with an array of dazzling strokes to complete the chase in just 27 balls.
The duo along with skipper Suryakumar Yadav (seven not out) ensured India stormed to a new record for their fastest chase in men’s T20I history – needing just 4.3 overs to complete the chase and victory in an emphatic fashion, along with giving themselves a massive net run rate boost.
After India pushed UAE into batting first, Sharafu got two thick edged boundaries off Hardik Pandya, before clipping Bumrah for four and lofting inside-out against Axar for a beautifully timed six. His fun ended at 22 when Bumrah castled him by flattening his off-stump with a pitch perfect yorker.
Chakaravarthy struck when Muhammad Zohaib slogged off his googly, but the thick outside edge was caught by backward point. Waseem was quick to pounce on errors from Bumrah by driving, cutting and flicking him to pick three fours in the final over of power-play, as UAE signed off with 41/2.
But the pressure of two overs with no boundaries on UAE meant Kuldeep made merry. On his flighted delivery, Rahul Chopra couldn’t get the timing right and holed out to long-on. Against Waseem, Kuldeep got one to straighten after pitching and trapped him lbw on sweep. The standout dismissal of Kuldeep’s spell came when his googly castled Harshit Kaushik through the gate.
With pressure firmly on UAE, Asif Khan and Dhruv Parashar survived huge lbw shouts against Chakaravarthy on review. But Dube took out Asif when the batter nicked slightly away from the body and was caught behind by Sanju Samson going low to his right to complete the catch.
Axar joined the wicket-taker’s list by trapping Simranjeet Singh lbw with a flighted delivery gripping and turning as well, while Dube added another scalp by jagging one back in to dismiss Parashar in the same fashion.
Amidst the carnage, a flash of sportsmanship came when Suryakumar withdrew the stumped out appeal on Junaid Siddique, who was caught wandering outside his crease by Samson after being distracted by Dube’s handkerchief falling while he was coming in to bowl in the 13th over.
But the reprieve was short-lived as Siddique skied one to Suryakumar at mid-wicket off Dube, while Kuldeep ended UAE’s misery by having Haider Ali caught behind. Abhishek was off the blocks from the word go by lofting Haider Ali through the line for a six over long-off, before slashing the spinner for another boundary.
Gill, on his return to the T20I team after more than a year, slashed Muhammad Rohid for four, before flicking uppishly over square leg for six. Abhishek hit the shot of the modest chase by going on the back foot to muscle Parashar over long-off for six, before scything the spinner over extra cover for four.
After pulling Siddique for six, Abhishek went for another heave, but skied to mid-on. Suryakumar got off the mark in his trademark swish over fine leg for six while Gill went on the backfoot to pull Simranjeet past mid-on for four to complete a statement win for the Indian team.
Brief Scores: UAE 57 in 13.1 overs (Alishan Sharafu 22, Muhammad Waseem 19; Kuldeep Yadav 4-7, Shivam Dube 3-4) lost to India 60/1 in 4.3 overs (Abhishek Sharma 30, Shubman Gill 20 not out; Junaid Siddique 1-16) by nine wickets
