Asia Cup T20 Match 9 Review: India outclass UAE in the dead rubber

India played a perfect match to continue their unbeaten run in Asia Cup. UAE had made it scary for Pakistan on the very same pitch, and they were hoping for a repeat against India as Amjad Javed won the toss and opted to bat again. They failed miserably though as a target of 82 was never gong to challenge the mighty Indians. UAE had one change – new-ball bowler Qadeer Ahmed had recovered from an injury and replaced Usman Mushtaq.

India, too, had a slew of changes considering the match was a dead rubber. Left-arm spinner Pawan Negi made his international debut. He took Ravindra Jadeja’s place in the XI and was given his first India cap from team director Ravi Shastri. A couple of familiar faces got a look in as well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harbhajan Singh returned to the XI. Ashish Nehra and Ravichandran Ashwin made way for them.

The UAE openers struggled against the discipline of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Swapnil Patil (1) was the first to go after a string of nine dots reaped reward for Kumar. Mohammad Shahzad (0) nicked one off Bumrah to Suresh Raina in the slip and Rohan Mustafa (11) hit a ball from Hardik Pandya straight into the lap of Kohli at cover to make it 25/3.

Shaiman Anwar stood firm and showed his quality once again. His knock of 43 off 48 included 3 fours and 1 six. His was the 9th and the final wicket to fall in a sorry looking scorecard that had 9 single digit scores. Two of these were of the number 10 and 11 batters who stayed unbeaten on 0. Kumar was exceptional in his 4-over spell of 2/8 while Bumrah, Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Negi and Yuvraj Singh all picked one wicket each.

Shikhar Dhawan struggled in his unbeaten knock of 16 off 20 and was lucky to survive a caught behind appeal early in his innings. The ball from Amjad Javed produced a clear edge which the umpire missed. The star of the Indian innings was Rohit Sharma who continued his golden run. His 39 runs off 28 balls included 7 fours and a glorious 6. His was the only wicket to fall when he slashed a short one off Qadeer Ahmed to third man. Yuvraj smashed an unbeaten 25 off 14 including 4 fours and 1 six to prove that his rhythm is firmly back. India overhauled the target in 10.1 overs to ensure an early finish.

Brief Scores:

United Arab Emirates – 81/9 in 20 overs (Shaiman Anwar 43; B Kumar 2/8)

India – 82/1 in 10.1 overs (R Sharma 39; Qadeer Ahmed 1/23)

Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma (India)

Here is how Twitter reacted to India’s clinical performance – Twitter Reactions: India beat UAE in a dull contest