India crush UAE by nine wickets in Asia Cup opener

Kuldeep Yadav's artistry was too much for a clueless UAE to comprehend as India hardly broke a sweat in an emphatic nine-wicket victory in their Asia Cup opener in Dubai on Wednesday.

Kuldeep didn't show any signs of rustiness as India dismissed the home team for a paltry 57 in 13.1 overs and then cantered home in just 4.3 overs.

Abhishek Sharma (30 off 16 balls) continued his blazing run in the company of best friend Shubman Gill (20 not out off nine), who also looked in ominous touch on his return to T20 cricket.

Call it an irony, it was left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh, who once bowled to Shubman in his pre-teens, was hit for the winning runs by the Indian vice-captain.

India's batting effort was more like a highlights package and a glorified net session with UAE bowlers having very little clue on where to pitch the ball.

That the match would end way before time was clear once captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to field.

The bowling plans laid by Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar were perfectly executed by the unit with the Dubai track helping the skillful Indian spinners.

Kuldeep, who had a frustrating time in the UK after warming the bench for five straight Tests, was too good for the UAE batters, ending with figures of 4 for 7 in 2.1 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah (1/19 in 3 overs) started the slide with a perfect yorker to remove Kerala born Alishan Sharafu (22 off 17 balls), who had till then survived audaciously with three boundaries and a six.

Once Bumrah landed a perfect one at the base of Sharafu's boots, UAE's promising start turned into a sorry tale with batters making a beeline back to the dug-out.

The troika of spinners -- Kuldeep, Varun Chakravarthy (1/4 in 2 overs) and Axar Patel (1/13 in 3 overs) are bowlers whom the players from associate nations don't play regularly and UAE had no clue how to counter them. Shivam Dube (3/4 in 2 overs), whose bowling is going to be important heading into T20 World Cup, helped himself with career-best figures, polishing off the tail in style.

Dube hit the right length during his two over spell, bowling at a speed of late 120 kmph and keeping a fullish length while slipping in the odd back of length heavy delivery.

Rahul Chopra wanted to hit out of trouble against Kuldeep and was holed out at long-on while left-handed Harshit Kaushik had no clue how to tackle a chinaman's googly -- one that comes into the southpaw.

Skipper Muhammad Waseem (19 off 22 balls) found it difficult to get going and when he tried to sweep Kuldeep, the ball bounced a tad extra.

In all, the Indian bowlers delivered 81 balls -- 13.1 overs plus two wides and UAE batters couldn't score off 52 deliveries.