DUBAI— Indian wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav made a big difference right away in India’s first game of the 2025 Asia Cup against the United Arab Emirates. His amazing stint broke the back of the other team’s batting line-up. Kuldeep may have only watched the last few Test matches in England, but he showed his worth in the T20 format by taking three wickets in one over against the UAE’s middle order.
The hosts got off to a good start, but Kuldeep came in to bowl and quickly changed the game in India’s favor. He got rid of three important players in just one over: Rahul Chopra, skipper Muhammad Waseem, and Harshit Kaushik. By the end of nine overs, the UAE team was in shambles at 50/5. The wonderful over was a lesson on how to change up your spin bowling. He got rid of Chopra first with a brilliant leg-break, which made him hit the ball too late and it was caught on the boundary. He then got the dangerous Muhammad Waseem out lbw with a well-hidden flipper when the batsman was trying to sweep. Finally, he sent Harshit Kaushik back to the pavilion with a googly that broke the stumps by going through the bat-pad gap.
Cricket analysts and commentators gave the performance a lot of acclaim. “What a talent,” said Pakistan cricket icon Wasim Akram on Sony Sports, praising Kuldeep’s ability to read batsmen in the shortest format and always bowl in the right spots with a variety of deliveries.
Kuldeep’s amazing performance was the best part of the Indian team’s strong bowling. Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had gotten India on the board by getting Alishan Sharafu out with a fast yorker. Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep’s spin partner, too got a wicket.
Kuldeep came back to take one more wicket, bringing his career-best numbers to 4/7 as the UAE were bowled out for just 57 runs. The bowling effort was also helped by the unexpected performance of all-rounder Shivam Dube, who took three wickets for only four runs. This showed how deep India’s bowling resources are.
India’s resounding win gives them a great start to their Asia Cup campaign and confirms their standing as one of the favorites to win the tournament.