Ravichandran Ashwin conceded the prospect of his first four-wicket haul in a one-day international played on his mind as he starred in India's comfortable Cricket World Cup win over the United Arab Emirates.

Spinner Ashwin took his maiden four-fer in ODI cricket for the loss of just 25 runs from his 10 overs to help India skittle the UAE for 102.

India needed just 18.5 overs to reach the target of 103, finishing on 104-1, leaving Ashwin to take the plaudits for a fine display.

"I bowl at such phases of the game, it's more of cutting the runs out, it can get a little difficult, but [the lack of a four-wicket haul] was playing on my mind today after the first five overs," man-of-the-match Ashwin said.

"When it comes to this format, I'm pretty much unselfish, it doesn't matter if I get the numbers or not as long as I put in the effort required.

"My wrist is getting into a good position, and that helps with the arm ball, the breeze helped as well. It was good to play the big teams initially, now we're on a roll."

Captain MS Dhoni added: "The bowlers have really stepped up, and in a team sport it starts to reflect in other departments too. We dropped one catch today but the fielding has been brilliant.

"When we are losing quite a few games outside the subcontinent, it was an area of concern that we were not getting wickets in the middle overs.

"Now we are getting wickets with the new ball and the spinners are able to put more pressure on the batsmen in the middle overs. We have to continue with the good effort."