Former Indian opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth slammed UAE’s performance after they were thrashed by India in their opening match of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Wednesday. Put into bat by Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, UAE got off to a decent start as their openers Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem added 26 runs.
But after that, the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 57 runs. Barring their openers, none of their batters could even score more than five runs. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers, returning with figures of 4-7 whereas Shivam Dube bagged three wickets. India then were able to chase down the target in 4.3 overs with Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill scoring 30 and 20 runs respectively.
Srikkanth said even a third division team won’t play this bad after UAE suffered a huge drubbing.
Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “This was not a T20 match, it was like a T-5 match. The UAE batters were getting out if you just bowl at the stumps. Even a third division side won’t play this bad. Should teams like UAE play in such tournaments? What’s the benefit of encouraging such teams? Such tournaments with the non-Test playing nations will make even ardent cricket fans lose interest in the sport.”
“Yes, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a couple of beauties to pick up his wickets. But they made Shivam Dube look like a deadly bowler. Not discrediting Dube, but the UAE batters were getting out if you just aim at the stumps. So, a victory like this means nothing for India.”
Srikkanth highlighted that the Men in Blue are playing at a different level than others in T20Is.
“India are playing at a different level to the others. They are a gun batting side, and Shreyas Iyer will also eventually be included for the T20 World Cup. They are just crushing the opposition, which is what the West Indies used to do in the late 1970s and early 1980s,” said Srikkanth.
India has won 26 out of their last 29 T20Is and thus have ticked the right boxes.
India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.
