India's resilient spin duo Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav gave a special shoutout to team analyst Hari Prasad Mohan for his behind-the-scenes efforts that proved fundamental in setting up India’s ninth Asia Cup title win in Dubai on Sunday.

India’s ball-tweaking troika, Axar Patel (2-26), Varun (2-30), and Kuldeep (4-30), wreaked havoc on Dubai’s slow-paced strip in the final, combining to scalp eight wickets and wrapping up the opposition innings at 146. India eventually chased down the target, courtesy of Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 69 and valuable support from Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, sealing a five-wicket victory.

Varun set the tone by breaking an 84-run opening stand, dismissing the threatening Sahibzada Farhan on 57(38). Axar Patel capitalised in the middle overs, while Kuldeep broke the rivals’ backbone by tearing through their power-hitters. Kuldeep later revealed that ahead of the final, Hari had pointed out the ideal lengths to bowl against their batters.

"Before the game, he (Hari) just sent the screenshot of the lengths where you are going to bowl to the batters," Kuldeep said after India’s unbeaten campaign and five-wicket triumph.

Varun also acknowledged Hari’s contribution, noting, "I would like to mention Hari (team analyst). He is a guy who has done a lot of work behind the scenes. And due credit to him also."

Despite being put to bat, the opposition initially asserted control, with their openers going from strength to strength and putting India in a challenging position. Varun’s mystery spin eventually shifted momentum in India’s favour.

The floodgates opened, and India made decisive inroads, reducing the rivals from 113/2 to 146. Bowling in tandem with Kuldeep also reminded Varun of their time together at Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

"I feel great. Definitely, at that time, I was going for wickets, and their top order was going well. And yes, I had done some plans, and it worked out in the way. But Kuldeep came and finished, yeah. It gave me memories of KKR when we were playing together. And he's always a star," Varun said.

Kuldeep’s brilliance underpinned India’s unbeaten run in the tournament, finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps at 9.29, while Varun collected seven wickets at an average of 20.42. According to Varun, Kuldeep undoubtedly belongs in the category of the world’s finest spinners.

"He's one of the best spinners, yeah. Yes, if you see the trend in the last few matches, the first 10 overs, everyone is going berserk. And they don’t lose wickets.

So, after that, we knew that if we bowl on the right space and right line of play, we can curtail them down," he concluded.