Dube delivers for India in all-rounder audition at Asia Cup

India all-rounder Shivam Dube has downplayed comparisons with teammate Hardik Pandya following his superb effort with the ball in the side's Asia Cup opener against the UAE in Dubai on Wednesday.

Dube collected career-best figures of 3/4 as India skittled the UAE for just 57, with the reigning Asia Cup champions wasting little time in chasing down the victory target inside five overs and for the loss of just one wicket.

It was an impressive quickfire spell from Dube, who revealed after the match that he has been working hard on his craft alongside India bowling coach Morne Morkel and was ready to bowl a full spell of four overs heading into the contest.

"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 have worked on them," Dube said.

"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 will have a role to play."

Dube's eye-catching performance with the ball drew comparisons with Pandya, another pace-bowling all-rounder that likes to vary his length and pace with the white-ball.

But Dube would not get drawn into any similarities with the India star and indicated he was still trying to learn as much as he could from his more experienced teammate.

"Hardik is like a brother from whom I tend to learn a lot as he has way more experience both in IPL and international cricket compared to me," Dube noted.

"Comparison, I never thought of, as my only endeavour is to learn as much as I can from his vast experience."

India's focus now turns to their next match against arch-rival Pakistan on Sunday, but Dube said he would not approach the eagerly-awaited fixture any differently.

"Whether I am playing against UAE or Pakistan, I try to follow what my coach Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir) tells me. When you play for India, you have got a chance to do some great things for the country," Dube added.

UAE have to wait until Monday for their next opportunity at the Asia Cup, with a clash against Oman awaiting them before a contest against Pakistan another two days later.

Head coach Lalchand Rajput wants his team to take the learnings from the loss to India with them when they take on Oman and Pakistan in their remaining group matches.

"For our batters, to be very honest, they were playing (India's world-class bowlers) for the first time," Rajput said.

"They were overawed by India's big names. We should have batted 20 overs. But nevertheless, I think this is a learning process for us."