Asia Cup 2025: ‘We were overawed by big names’

India handed a crushing defeat to the United Arab Emirates in the Match No. 2 of the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 on Wednesday, September 10 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Bowling first, the Indians could go no wrong as they bundled the UAE line-up for just 57 runs by the 14th over of the innings. Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube were the standout bowlers for the Men in Blue.

Meanwhile, UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput, who was with the Indian team during the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and has played for India as well, opened up on the loss. He admitted that the lack of practice against a quality bowling attack like India completely outplayed them in the tournament opener. Rajput also talked about the depth of the Indian team across departments.

“We never play such kind of bowlers, we were overawed by big names. World champions will crush teams. It was good till powerplay but once spinners started operating, it changed. There was not much turn but if it’s Kuldeep and Varun, even top batters struggle against them. Also, if Arshdeep can’t make it to playing eleven, it tells you about the (Indian) team’s depth,” Rajput was quoted as saying after the match by the Indian Express.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, was very happy with the outrightly dominating performance put up by his bowlers in the first innings, which made the batters’ job easier in the second. The Mumbai-born said that while the spinners did the bulk of the task, the amount of support offered by Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Dube was quite helpful in the end. 

“Recently lot of the boys were here for the Champions Trophy, the wicket looked good but it was on the slower side and the spinners have a role. Here it is very hot right now and Kuldeep did well, got good support from Hardik, Dube and Bumrah,” he said.

The Men in Blue are currently top of the points table with a superlative net run-rate (NRR) of 10.48. Their next clash is against Pakistan at the same venue on September 14. They will then lead into their third and final group stage fixture of the tournament against Oman on September 19 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

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