India’s Dube credits coach Morkel after crucial spell in Asia Cup win over UAE

Shivam Dube impressed in India’s crushing nine-wicket win over the UAE at the Asia Cup on Wednesday and the all-rounder credited bowling coach Morne Morkel with the tactical tweaks and advice that led to his three-wicket haul.

UAE were skittled out for 57 runs in the Twenty20 match, with Dube recording career-best figures of 3/4 and Kuldeep Yadav picking up four wickets, before India chased down their target in just 4.3 overs.

“Morne has been working with me since I came back into the Indian team for the England series,” Dube told reporters.

“He told me to bowl a line that is slightly outside the off-stump. He also worked with me in developing a slower delivery and tweaked my run-up a bit. The head coach and the skipper had told me that my bowling will have a role to play.”

Dube’s bowling has improved significantly in the past year, with half of his 16 wickets in 36 T20I matches coming in his last four innings with the ball, but he was quick to shut down any comparisons with established all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

“Hardik is like a brother from whom I tend to learn a lot as he has way more experience both in IPL and international cricket compared to me,” Dube said.

“Comparison, I never thought of, as my only endeavour is to learn as much as I can from his vast experience.”

India next play Pakistan on Sunday while UAE take on Oman the following day, with the tournament hosts looking to bounce back from a batting collapse which saw them record their lowest total in a T20I.

“For our batters, to be very honest, they were playing (India’s world-class bowlers) for the first time,” UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput told reporters.

“They were overawed by India’s big names. We should have batted 20 overs. But nevertheless, I think this is a learning process for us.”

Meanwhile, left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav credited his recent work on fitness and bowling propelling him to have everything going in a perfect way to pick a match-winning spell.

At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Kuldeep became the wrecker-in-chief by finishing with extraordinary figures of 4-7, including three wickets in a single over, as India bowled out UAE for just 57 in 13.1 overs, before completing the chase in 27 balls. “It was tough for me (to not play a lot in recent months). I was working on my bowling and my fitness as well (with Adrian le Roux, our Strength & Conditioning coach), and everything was going perfect (tonight).”

“The length matters a lot, reading the batters. Specially in this format, the length is the main thing and reading the batters and what they are trying to do. Reacting to what the batter was trying to do (off the next ball),” Kuldeep said in the post-match presentation ceremony after being named Player of the Match. India captain Suryakumar Yadav praised the all-round effort of his side in a clinical campaign opening win. “Wanted to see how the wicket was playing (after electing to bowl first), it was the same in the second innings as well. Clinical performance from the boys. Wanted good energy and attitude in the field and that carried over into the batting.

“Recently, a lot of boys were here during the Champions Trophy. It (the pitch) looked good but it looked on the slower side. It is very hot here, so thought spinners might have a bit more dominance, but nice support shown by Hardik, Bumrah and Dube.”

Left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma made a blazing 30, and Suryakumar lauded him for the same. “He is a phenomenal batter and that is the reason he is the world number one (batter) right now. He keeps the team first, irrespective of the score, and that is unbelievable from him. We all are excited, everyone wants to play a good game and we are really looking forward to it (the clash against Pakistan on September 14).”

UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem rued his side’s collapse after a promising start, and promised the team would come back stronger in group games against Oman and Pakistan. “We started well as a batting team but we lost wickets in a cluster, and that cost us the game. We can say that they (India) are a brilliant team and are bowling really well.

Agencies