While the official starting XI for India’s Asia Cup 2025 opener against the tournament hosts, UAE, is yet to be revealed, their bowling coach, Morne Morkel, appears to have provided some insight into their plans. According to a recent report, the former South Africa pacer said that he finds it important to use players like Shivam Dube, who can bowl multiple overs.
Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya could be the primary choices in the fast bowling department for the Men in Blues, but an all-rounder like Dube becomes another handy option. In fact, he can even contribute with the bat, as he has shown on many occasions, providing further depth to the batting lineup.
India might feature Shivam Dube in Asia Cup playing XI
Speaking with reporters at the ICC Academy in Dubai, India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel reportedly said:
“For me it’s always important to use Shivam as a guy who can bowl four overs, I’m always pushing for all-rounders to work hard on both skills. Sometimes guys can get a little naughty in practice and focus on one. But here we want to leave no stone unturned. On the day, conditions might favour him more than somebody else, and he needs to be ready to deliver.”
This suggests that Dube might be featured to provide depth in both departments against UAE on September 10, 2025. Interestingly, the Men in Blue featured a spin-heavy side during their ICC Champions Trophy games, which were also played in Dubai. However, as per Morkel, they will still need to assess the conditions before making a decision:
“We need to go and look at the wicket. I think when the Champions Trophy was played at that time, there was a lot of cricket on the surfaces here and they looked a little bit tired, so again, tonight we will have a first look at the surface and I believe there is quite a bit of grass covering on the square. So we will have a good idea going into the first game in terms of what is sort of a better way to go, but in terms of planning at the moment, we are covering all bases and then we will make a decision on match day.”
India is one of the strongest teams in the competitions, but it would still be crucial to get off to a good start, especially with their second game against arch rivals, Pakistan.
