Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik believes Team India should replace batting all-rounder Shivam Dube with left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in their upcoming Asia Cup 2025 clash against Pakistan in Dubai on September 14. The Men in Blue began their Asia Cup campaign in style, defeating the UAE by nine wickets in a mere 4.3 overs of their run chase.The result aside, Arshdeep's exclusion was the big talking point among Indian fans from the UAE game. The 26-year-old is India's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 99 wickets at an average of 18.30 in 63 games.Yet, India preferred batting depth until No. 8, resulting in Arshdeep being sidelined against the UAE.Talking about the same in the post-match show on Cricbuzz, Kartik said (10:22):"I will take Shivam Dube out to bring Arshdeep in. Because Axar gives you both, he can be the floater and play against seam-bowling as well. If you are keeping Shivam Dube to predominantly only play the spinners, then he is wasted. With Arshdeep, even though it's one batter less, the responsibility goes up and you've got a quality bowling attack which is well-rounded."Despite being picked predominantly for his batting, Dube impressed with the ball in the UAE clash, finishing with figures of 3/4 in two overs. His strikes helped India restrict the UAE to a paltry total of 57 in 13.1 overs."You don't want to be out there in the heat for too long" - Murali Kartik on India's decision at the tossMurali Kartik backed India's decision to bowl first against the UAE in their 2025 Asia Cup opener even as it deprived them of game time ahead of the potentially tougher matches in the tournament. The Men in Blue recorded their fastest win in a run chase, reaching the target in under five overs."Sometimes as a team, you decide you don't want to be out there in the heat for too long. You've got games coming. And if everyone is happy with their game and within the team if there is a unanimous decision, you go with that. You want to prepare for the way you want to play going forward. And India would have wanted to be ruthless and merciless against a team like the UAE and that's exactly what they were," said Kartik (via the aforementioned source).The win was India's 26th in their last 29 T20Is, dating back to the start of their triumphant 2024 T20 World Cup campaign in the West Indies and the USA.