2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in their 2025 Asia Cup match vs UAE ft. Suryakumar Yadav

Team India thrashed the United Arab Emirates by nine wickets in their opening game of the 2025 Asia Cup. The crowd at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium was treated to under 20 overs of cricket across the two innings on Wednesday, September 10.

Suryakumar Yadav's bowlers dished out a commanding display. Kuldeep Yadav was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up four wickets, while Shivam Dube chipped in with three of his own. The UAE were skittled for just 57, with the Men in Blue chasing the total down inside five overs.

Even in such a commanding victory, India had some room for improvement. On that note, here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by them in their Asia Cup 2025 clash against the UAE.

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#3 Mistake - Suryakumar Yadav elected to bowl first

India v United Arab Emirates - Asia Cup - Source: Getty

It's understandable that Suryakumar and Co. wanted to get the job done quickly in Dubai, but they arguably didn't look at the bigger picture. After their first match of the 2025 Asia Cup, India still have a lot of questions regarding the form and fitness of most of their players.

None of India's six bowlers finished their quota. Of the two who bowled three overs each, Jasprit Bumrah didn't bowl outside the powerplay. Meanwhile, in the batting department, no one got a hit out in the middle apart from the top three of Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar himself.

Electing to bat first would've given India the opportunity to test out almost all of their players. The UAE were never going to give them a real fight, and the Men in Blue should've prioritized their long-term goals in the tournament.

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#2 Masterstroke - India went in with a bold playing XI, and it worked

England & India Net Sessions - Source: Getty

India sprung a major surprise at the toss of their Asia Cup 2025 clash against the UAE. They went in with just one specialist pacer in the form of Bumrah, with Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube pipping Arshdeep Singh to a spot in the playing XI.

The move allowed the Men in Blue to have batting depth while maximizing the threat they have with the ball. Kuldeep and Dube shared seven wickets between them, justifying the decision. It was an unusual playing combination, one that few experts predicted ahead of the contest. Nevertheless, it paid off handsomely.

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#1 Mistake - Suryakumar Yadav withdrew his stumping appeal

India v United Arab Emirates - Asia Cup - Source: Getty

In the 13th over of the UAE innings, with the hosts already eight down, Sanju Samson produced a brilliant bit of glovework to catch Junaid Siddique short of his ground. However, captain Suryakumar bizarrely decided to withdraw the appeal, even though replays showed that the UAE paceman was short of his ground.

Siddique eventually ended up falling to Dube in the same over, ironically caught by Suryakumar. However, the Indian skipper's decision to keep the batter at the crease, presumably due to a notion about the infamous spirit of cricket, didn't make much sense from a cricketing or sporting standpoint.

Dube was effectively robbed of a wicket, while Samson lost out on a stumping that would've gone down in his name. More importantly, it's dangerous to allow the fielding captain to dictate the laws of the game - if a batter is out according to the rules, then they must be given out. That, in fact, would honor the spirit of the game.