India treat Pakistan like minnows, top stars skip practice ahead of Asia Cup Super 4 clash
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The Indian team had an optional practice session today ahead of their upcoming game against Pakistan in the Super-4 stage; however, there were not more than 3 players present in the nets.
India is the World Champion in the shorter format of the game and is currently featured in the Asia Cup 2025 as the defending champion after having won it back in 2023. They have made it to the Super-4 stage of the competition alongside Asian rivals Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
After dominating in the group-stage games, the Indian team players seemed delighted with their performance and have hence reportedly mass-bunked their optional session ahead of the next game.
From Skipper Suryakumar Yadav to youngster Tilak Varma, Indian players opt out of the optional session before the Pakistan clash
India is all set to take on Pakistan for their first Super-4 match on Sunday. The Men in Blue are motivated, while the Pakistan team is eyeing to avenge their humiliation in the first game.
However, the sights from the Indian team's practice session don't seem to indicate that the players are very concerned with the highly anticipated game. When the Men in Blue had kept an optional practice session ahead of the Pakistan clash, only 3 Indian players were present in the nets.
This marked the absence of 12 players from the 15-member squad that travelled to the UAE for the Asia Cup. Even the likes of Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma, who are yet to feature in the playing XI for India, were marked absent from the session.
Like on the field, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav seems to be the leader of this mass bunk, since the captain himself was not seen in the nets; however, he addressed the press earlier this evening.
Shubman Gill practices hard after a disgusting show in the Asia Cup
Though most players might be absent from the optional session, Shubman Gill, the Indian vice-captain, looked determined to end his poor form in the Asia Cup. He was among the three players in the India nets who were seen toiling hard to overcome their flaws ahead of the big game.
Alongside Gill, opening partner Abhishek Sharma was also in the Indian nets. Varun Chakravarthy, who did not play the previous game against Oman, was the third Indian player who opted to feature in the optional session.
The session was optional, since Indian players had just come from a match on Friday and had also travelled a long way from Abu Dhabi.
Suryakumar cited batting time as the sole reason for the swap in the Indian batting order against Oman
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav made some big revelations during the pre-match press conference ahead of their Sunday clash. The captain was flooded with questions over the swap in the Indian batting order against Oman.
SKY revealed that the swap was an attempt to test the abilities of their batters as well as provide some game time to the middle-order batters like Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, and even Tilak Varma.
He also said that the team winning is the priority; whether he comes out to bat or not is secondary.
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India National Cricket Team Abhishek Sharma Shubman Gill Varun Chakravarthy Pakistan National Cricket Team Asia Cup India vs Pakistan
