India enjoyed a field day during their Asia Cup 2025 opener against the UAE, smashing them by nine wickets to get the campaign off to a rollicking start. Once Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube combined to pick 7 wickets, bowling the UAE for 57, the result was a foregone conclusion. Instead of being tested, Wednesday night in Dubai ended up as more of a warm-up ahead of India’s much-anticipated clash against Pakistan three days later.
A win is a win, but former India captain Kris Srikkanth feels otherwise in the aftermath of the one-sided result. In a ravaging take, Srikkanth questioned UAE’s talent pool and wondered whether giving the minnows a tournament such as the Asia Cup is in the best interest of other teams and fans.
"This was not a T20 match, it was like a T-5 match. The UAE batters were getting out if you just bowl at the stumps. Even a third division side won't play this badly. Should teams like UAE play in such tournaments? What's the benefit of encouraging such teams? Such tournaments with the non-Test playing nations will make even ardent cricket fans lose interest in the sport," he said on his YouTube channel.
"Yes, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a couple of beauties to pick up his wickets. But they made Shivam Dube look like a deadly bowler. Not discrediting Dube, but the UAE batters were getting out if you just aim at the stumps. So, a victory like this means nothing for India."
No competition for India, asserts Srikkanth
{{/usCountry}}"Yes, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a couple of beauties to pick up his wickets. But they made Shivam Dube look like a deadly bowler. Not discrediting Dube, but the UAE batters were getting out if you just aim at the stumps. So, a victory like this means nothing for India."
No competition for India, asserts Srikkanth
{{/usCountry}}Having said that, Srikkanth adds that India is miles ahead of the rest of the teams. And to think about it, the former BCCI chairman of selectors is spot on. This is a team where Yashasvi Jaiswal is serving as a reserve player, while a cricketer of Shreyas Iyer’s calibre has to sit out of the squad. Even before the start of the tournament, India were earmarked as easy favourites with only Pakistan and Sri Lanka capable of giving them a fight. And Afghanistan, if their stars align.
India is playing at a different level than the others. They are a gun-batting side, and Shreyas Iyer will also eventually be included for the T20 World Cup. They are just crushing the opposition, which is what the West Indies used to do in the late 1970s and early 1980s," said Srikkanth.