India kicked off their 2025 Men’s Asia Cup campaign with a stunning nine-wicket win over UAE in Dubai. Fresh from the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup final, spinner Kuldeep Yadav stole the show, claiming 4 wickets for just 7 runs to dismantle UAE’s batting lineup. This thrilling T20I clash at Dubai International Cricket Stadium saw India chase down the target in record time, boosting their net run rate big time.
UAE won the toss and batted first on a cool evening, starting strong at 47/2 after eight overs. Opener Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu smashed early boundaries, with Sharafu edging two fours off Hardik Pandya and lofting a six against Axar Patel. But things quickly fell apart. Jasprit Bumrah struck first, bowling Sharafu with a perfect yorker for 22. Varun Chakaravarthy then dismissed Muhammad Zohaib, caught at backward point off a googly.
Waseem fought back, hammering three fours off Bumrah in the powerplay to reach 41/2. Yet, Kuldeep Yadav turned the game on its head in his second over, taking three quick wickets. He had Rahul Chopra holing out to long-on, trapped Waseem lbw for 19 with a straightener, and bowled Harshit Kaushik with a sneaky googly. UAE crumbled, losing eight wickets for only 10 runs, all out for a measly 57 in 13.1 overs—the lowest T20I total against India ever.
Shivam Dube shone with the ball too, grabbing 3 wickets for 4 runs as India’s third seamer. He caught Asif Khan behind off a nick and bowled Dhruv Parashar with one that jagged back. Axar Patel chipped in with an lbw against Simranjeet Singh, while Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy added one each. In a heartwarming moment, skipper Suryakumar Yadav withdrew a stumping appeal against Junaid Siddique after a distraction from Dube’s dropped handkerchief—but Siddique fell soon after, caught off Dube. Kuldeep wrapped it up by having Haider Ali caught behind.
Chasing 58, India made light work of it. Abhishek Sharma exploded right away, lofting Haider Ali for a six and slashing a spinner for four. Shubman Gill, back in the T20I side after over a year, slashed Muhammad Rohid for four and flicked one for six. Abhishek’s highlight was muscling Dhruv Parashar for a six over long-off and cutting him for four over extra cover. He raced to 30 before holing out, but Suryakumar swished a six to get going, and Gill pulled the winning four off Simranjeet Singh.
India finished the chase in just 4.3 overs—their fastest ever in men’s T20Is—for 60/1. What a dominant start to the Asia Cup for the Men in Blue!
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*; Junaid Siddique 1-16) by nine wickets.
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