New Delhi: Just a day before the Asia Cup starts in the UAE, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif expressed serious concerns about Team India. He highlighted a key difference between the team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup and the current squad selected for the 2025 Asia Cup. Kaif said that this time India will need to find a new formula to win.
Last year, in the final played in Barbados, India defeated South Africa to win the ICC trophy after 11 years. It was also India’s first world title in 13 years. After this, there were two major changes in the dressing room – captain Rohit Sharma retired from T20 cricket, handing over the captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav, while Gautam Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as the head coach.
Kaif said that Rohit Sharma’s team had three all-rounders – Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Hardik Pandya – which gave the team six bowling options and batting depth up to the eighth position. However, the current team has only two genuine all-rounders – Axar and Hardik. According to Kaif, this is why India will need a new strategy, and the absence of Washington Sundar will be felt.
The team management has placed Washington Sundar on the standby list, and Rinku Singh has been included in the 15-member squad in his place. Selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar explained that an extra batsman was needed considering the conditions in the UAE. He also said that the team already has three spin options – Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Axar Patel. If the squad size had been 16 players, Sundar could have been included as well.
The biggest question now is whether Suryakumar Yadav’s team can achieve the same success with just two all-rounders as Rohit Sharma’s team did last year. The answer will start to become clear from the opening matches of the Asia Cup.
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