Explore Team India best predicted playing 11 for the Asia Cup 2025 clash vs Pakistan on September 14. With Jasprit Bumrah set to play, find out how India’s squad shapes up for the high-voltage encounter in UAE.
India vs Pakistan is such a hot topic at the moment that even if you talk about this, fans across both countries are irked. And why wouldn’t they be irked? The relation between the two countries has taken a hot turn after the Pahalgam attack. India has been extremely aggressive in response to the incident, and has launched a multifold attack on the neighbouring country, including Operation Sindoor, suspending Indus Treat, etc.
Such is the situation currently that the India Champions refused to play the Pakistan Champions in the ongoing Legends Championship. This shows India do not want to have any relationship with the neighbouring country. But things look entirely different when it comes to International Cricket. BCCI has not opposed the scheduling of the Asia Cup 2025, and Team India are expected to play Pakistan in a Group clash on September 24, and then once again on September 21 for a Super 4 clash.
This makes India vs Pakistan a hot topic of discussion currently, as even after considering the hostile relations, both teams’ fans will still watch the match with all eagerness. But how does the ideal squad and likely playing 11 look like for the Indian team? With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now retired, this will be the first major multinational event for the Indian T20I team. Suryakumar Yadav should continue to lead the T20I team, and based on the current squad strength, let’s find the likely best playing 11 for Team India for the Asia Cup 2025 clash vs Pakistan.
Asia Cup 2025 Team India Strongest Squad and Players List
Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma & Yashasvi Jaiswal
WKs: Rishabh Pant & Sanju Samson
All-rounders: Abhishek Sharma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya & Washington Sundar
Bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav & Varun Chakravarthy
Before we get into the strongest playing 11, let’s quickly skim through the strongest squad that Team India are likely to put forward for the Asia Cup 2025. Team India will be without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja. So, a new team under Suryakumar Yadav will be eager to defend the trophy in the Asia Cup 2025. Most of the T20 World Cup 2024 stars will be a part of this lineup, alongside some emerging stars who did well in recent T20Is and IPL.
Now, selecting the strongest playing 11 for Team India with regard to the Asia Cup is in itself a big task. Thanks to the Indian Premier League, there are so many quality players who are making a mark in almost all places of a batting and bowling lineup. It’s very unfortunate that only 15 players will get selected, and only 11 will feature in the playing 11. But such is the quality of the Indian team that they can play 3 strong playing 11s at a time, and still end up winning.
But if we have to shortlist those 11 players that will form the strongest playing 11, we will look at the following 11 players. Taking reference from the previous T20 series, and performance in the IPL, here’s the strongest playing 11 for Team India for the Asia Cup 2025 clash vs Pakistan. The team is well covered on all bases, and more emphasis has been given to wicket-taking bowlers, as a defensive mindset isn’t what we should associate ourselves with.
Asia Cup 2025 Best Playing 11 Decoded
Starting with the best openers, this has to be the toughest selection of the lot. There are so many quality openers present in the Indian team that selecting just two will be an injustice to almost everyone who isn’t selected. But looking at the nature of the format, and the need for more consistent players, the current best openers for Team India will be the left-handed duo of Abhishek Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Both are aggressive batters by nature, and have done well at the International as well as the IPL stage. We do have other batters like Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, etc., but Yashasvi and Abhishek fell the best of the lot.
Now, coming to the selection of the middle-order, this is where things become interesting. We have to select a keeper first, and currently, Sanju Samson is the best WK batter in the T20 format. We do have Rishabh Pant too, but he is unproven in the T20I format, and hence Sanju Samson looks an ideal choice. With Sanju Samson batting at 3, Captain Suryakumar Yadav at 5, and the return of Shreyas Iyer at 5 makes this batting lineup is a dangerous one. Two left-handers at the top, and then three attacking batters following them, is a treat to watch for any Indian fan.
Ideal Finishers?
Moving on to the finishers of the Indian Team, look no other than Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel at 6 and 7 respectively. Both are the best we have got when it comes to All-rounder finishers. The team can contemplate playing Washington Sundar at 8, but instead of Sundar, India would be better off playing Kuldeep Yadav as an attacking bowler at number 8. Sure, someone like a Sundar or Nitish Reddy isn’t a bad option, but Kuldeep is an attacking spinner, and having him in the side alongside Bumrah and Chakravarthy makes our bowling lineup stronger.
Now, coming to the bowling lineup, the team should persist with 6 bowling options, with 3 being pacers and 3 being spinners. While Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya should lead the pace department, the spin department should see Varun Chakravarthy leading the attack with support from Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. Having four Frontline bowlers with Hardik and Axar being the other two is a solid strategy in the T20 format. Having a cushion for extra batting depth works well in the ODI format, but not in the T20 format.
So, that’s about the strongest playing 11 for Team India for the Asia Cup 2025 clash vs Pakistan. Overall, this Indian Team has strong batting till 7, so an extra batter at 8 may not be needed. The team’s bowling seems potent enough to cover up for an extra bowler. However, knowing how Gambhir is focused on having more cushion in the batting, expect Gambhir to play someone like Sundar or Nitish at 8 in place of Kuldeep Yadav.
Asia Cup 2025 Team India Strongest Playing 11 for Pakistan Clash
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Abhishek Sharma
- Sanju Samson (wk)
- Suryakumar Yadav (c)
- Shreyas Iyer
- Hardik Pandya
- Axar Patel
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Arshdeep Singh
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Varun Chakravarthy
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