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India vs United Arab Emirates, Asia Cup 2025: India got their T20 Asia Cup 2025 campaign off to an excellent start with a thumping nine-wicket win over UAE in Dubai on September 10. India played with one frontline pacer and the two other pace options were Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube. The plan worked as spinners preyed on UAE batters. Dube cashed in as UAE faced a batting collapse and claimed three wickets for just four runs. After the win, Dube revealed what head coach Gautam Gambhir said in the dressing room, motivating his troops for the matches against UAE and Pakistan.
“Whenever we play for India, we don’t consider any match as a warm-up match. It’s about pride to play for the country,” Dube said in the post-match press conference. “Be it against UAE or Pakistan, every game is important for me. Gauti bhai always said this: whenever you represent India, it is a chance to do something miraculous.”
India are scheduled to take on Pakistan on September 14. This is the first time India will face Pakistan since the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir which was followed by military conflict on the border.
Dube works on fitness
Dube opened up about how he has been working on his fitness to be ready to bowl in T20 Asia Cup. Also, he has improved his game against short balls.
“For the last two months, I have worked a great deal on my fitness. As far as my batting is concerned, I know I have a role to play (as a power-hitter) in the middle overs. I know over the years, bowlers targeted me with short balls, and I have worked on increasing my range of shots,” Dube said.
Morkel’s advice and changes Dube made
Dube revealed how bowling coach Morne Morkel advised him to bowl outside off-stump. He has made changes to his run-up and developed a slower delivery as he was told to play a role with the ball as well.
“Morne has been working with me since I came back into the Indian team for the England series. He has given me certain specific advice and I worked on them,” said Dube in the post-match presentation.
“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 would have a role to play.”
Dube’s T20I bowling record better than IPL
While 32-year-old Dube has bowled just 21 overs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and taken five wickets, his T20I statistics as bowlers are better. Conceding at just over nine runs per over, he has 16 wickets at an average of 28.06. On September 10, he registered his best bowling figures in the format.
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