Suryakumar Yadav will captain the Indian men’s team in the 2025 Asia Cup to be held from September 9-28 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. India is part of the eight-team tournament and will face Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 14.
Bazid Khan slams Suryakumar Yadav
Before this match, former Pakistani batsman Bazid Khan spoke up. He said Suryakumar performs well against most teams but hasn’t been successful against Pakistan. Bazid said on PTV Sports that it’s unknown whether it’s due to Pakistan’s pace attack or something else but Suryakumar has struggled against them.
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Numbers against Pakistan
Suryakumar is 34 years old and has played 5 T20Is against Pakistan. In those matches he has scored 64 runs with an average of 12.80 and a strike rate of 118.51.
His struggles against Pakistan don’t seem to be condition specific. He had trouble in Dubai during the 2021 T20 World Cup and 2022 Asia Cup which are spin friendly conditions. He also struggled in pace friendly conditions during the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne and 2024 T20 World Cup in New York.
It could just be a coincidence. It’s unusual for a player of his skill to struggle against one team. Pakistan is the only team against whom Suryakumar has played more than 5 matches and averages less than 30. Even against England where he averages 29.08 his strike rate is 171.92.
Team India to Miss The Trio of Rohit, Virat and Jadeja
Bazid also spoke about the Indian team for Asia Cup 2025 and said the team will miss the intensity of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Bazid said all the players are talented but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s intensity is hard to replace.
He also mentioned the absence of Ravindra Jadeja who retired from T20Is on June 30, 2024. Bazid said people talk about Virat and Rohit but Jadeja was the one who brought the team together. He added Axar Patel is a good player but Jadeja was the one who provided balance as a batter and bowler and was an exceptional fielder and one of the best in the world.
T20I format for Asia Cup 2025 to prepare for 2026 T20 World Cup which India and Sri Lanka will host.
India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
