Dubai [UAE], September 11 : UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput underscored the quality of India's lethal bowling attack, which, according to him, ranks among the world's best, that overwhelmed them without breaking a sweat during their campaign opener at the Asia Cup.
India fielded a solitary pace specialist, Jasprit Bumrah, with three frontline spinners, including left-armer wrist ball tweaker Kuldeep Yadav, mysterious Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel. Hardik Pandya served as the second go-to option among the speedsters, while Shivam Dube remained ever-present to roll his arm when the situation called for it.
The setup that the management went with left no room for the nation's highest wicket-taker in the format, Arshdeep Singh in the final XI. Rajput was quizzed about whether the firepower proved too much for his side even after the absence of the left-armer. The former India coach feels that, with the number of options India possesses in its arsenal, somebody will have to bide his time on the sidelines.
"It will be superior because they are the world champions. If you see Arshdeep can't make it into their playing XI, so you can their bowling attack and their spinners: the three best spinners in the world, plus Bumrah, who, on any day, he is one of the best bowlers in the world. I think it is a given fact. They have options, and it is difficult for them to pick their best XI. There will be some players who miss out. Overall, their bowling attack is one of the best," Rajput said during the post-match press conference.
While Shivam Dube remained effective with his scrambled seam and scythed three wickets, it was the troika of spinners who stole the limelight. Kuldeep, Chakravarthy and Axar combined to take six wickets while effectively dismantling the misfiring UAE batters. Rajput made an honest admission and classified the pitch as a track that didn't offer much turn. It all came down to the skill set, which they effectively deployed.
"To be very honest, it is not a turning track. It is a good wicket to bat on. But the skill level these players have, especially the wrist spinners, they will always turn on any type of wickets. For our batters, they were playing them for the first time. They were always overawed by India's big names. We should have batted 20 overs. This is a learning process for our batters, and we move on," Rajput added.
From standing in a comfortable position at 47/2, the rest of the batting unit combined to add just 10 runs before surrendering in 13.1 overs. The collective failure against the World Champions ensured that the UAE were fated to end up on the wrong side.
The mastermind behind the UAE's downfall was Kuldeep, who scalped three wickets in the ninth over, eventually finishing with figures of 4/7 in 2.1 overs. For his heroic effort, he was adjudged the Player of the Match. Chakravarthy and Axar played the perfect supporting act, forcing the UAE batters to hide in their shell. Despite the loss, Rajput is willing to take the positives out of the clobbering that they received, which lasted for less than two hours.
"They were not patient enough. That was the only thing that we always said: please try to bat 20 overs. If you play 120 balls, you will definitely get 130 to 140 runs. Once the spinners started taking wickets, they got under shell and pressure. I feel it is a good thing that has happened early. So that is another positive aspect that we will take while going forward. I am sure we will always improve," he concluded.
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