Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliance rewrote the record books, as his fiery spell against UAE saw him leapfrog Ravichandran Ashwin and leave the opposition reeling in India’s biggest T20I triumph in the Asia Cup on Wednesday.
The UAE struggled to make an impact as the match wrapped up in under two hours at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Kuldeep was the architect of the collapse, producing a clinical spell of 4/7 in just 2.1 overs. With this performance, he overtook both Axar Patel and Ashwin, who share 72 wickets apiece, and now leads with 73 scalps in 41 matches at an impressive average of 13.39.
His brilliance peaked in the ninth over, where he showcased his class and etched his name into the record books.
In that over, Kuldeep delivered a masterclass- Rahul Chopra (3) holed out to vice-captain Shubman Gill on the first ball. Then skipper Waseem (19 off 22) was trapped LBW on the fourth and finally Harshit Kaushik (2 off 2) was clean bowled on the final ball.
With three wickets in a single over, Kuldeep delivered the final blow and wrapped up the UAE’s innings at a mere 57 runs in 13.1 overs.
This stands as the second lowest total in Asia Cup history, only ahead of Hong Kong’s 38 against Pakistan in 2022.
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