Asia Cup 2025 India vs Pakistan- 3 Player Battles To Watch Out For

The Asia Cup 2025 will be played in T20I format this time, with the marquee clash between India and Pakistan scheduled to take place on September 14. This article talks about three player battles to watch out for during the high-voltage encounter.

Asia Cup 2025 India vs Pakistan- 3 Player Battles To Watch Out For

3. Saim Ayub vs Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan is going through a transition in T20I cricket, especially in the batting department, with the majority of the batters who were a part of last year's T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies being left out of the squad for the multination tournament.

A couple of the notable omissions from the Asia Cup 2025 include former T20I captains Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan, both of whom were an integral part of the team's T20I setup for the last few years.

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The Pakistani selectors have decided to stick with the same batting lineup in the Asia Cup 2025, which has been playing together consistently for the last few months, and would bank on it to put on a strong performance against arch-rivals India.

Saim Ayub, who is tagged as one of the future stars for Pakistan, will have to take the responsibility and get the team off to a good start in the first six overs by making full use of the field restrictions.

Ayub will be up against Varun Chakaravarthy, who has the experience of bowling in the powerplay for India in T20I cricket, and would wish to get the better of Saim Ayub to restrict Pakistan to a below-par total while bowling first.

Chakaravarthy will look to do a similar job if Pakistan chase as well as they seemed to be comfortable when they have a target in front of them.

2. Hadik Pandya vs Abrar Ahmed

Hardik Pandya, who is known for his attacking gameplay against the spinners, would be itching to take on the Pakistani spinner when the all-rounder takes the field against them on September 14 in the Asia Cup 2025.

Pandya will play an important role in ensuring that India avoids losing wickets in the middle overs through his aggressive yet sensible and calculative style of batting to lay a platform for him to unleash in the final five overs.

Pandya will go head-to-head against Abrar Ahmed, who can be termed as the leader of Pakistan's spin bowling department, being the team's most experienced spinner.

Going by Pandya's style of play, he will be expected to take Abrar on and not let him settle.

1. Shubman Gill vs Shaheen Afridi

India's vice-captain in the Asia Cup 2025, Shubman Gill, will look to put his best foot forward and continue the form that he showed in the recently concluded five-match Test series, although in a different format.

The captain of the Indian Test team would like to settle a debate that is doing the rounds regarding his place in the playing XI through a match-winning performance, especially in a high-octane clash against Pakistan.

Gill will face the challenge of Shaheen Afridi with the new ball. It will be the first meeting between them in this format of the game, and both players will look to get the better of each other.