Former Pakistan cricketer Bazid Khan claims that India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav will not have the same impact as a player in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 battle between India vs Pakistan as the likes of Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma had on the team. Notably, both the icons retired from the shortest format after the T20 WC 2024 win. After that match, this will be the first time India will be playing Pakistan in T20Is without Kohli & Rohit.
While Bazid acknowledged the overall quality of India's 15-member squad, he feels the gap created by the absence of the two star players will have an impact.
"Look, all these players are high-class. There isn't anyone here you could say is not of that caliber. But the high intensity that Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma brought to the game is something India will surely miss," Bazid said.
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The expert also spoke about Suryakumar Yadav's iffy record against Pakistan, which has not seen him score a T20I fifty. The right-hand batter was dismissed for low scores in the T20 World Cups 2022, & 2024 event against the Men In Green.
"Suryakumar scores runs against almost everyone, but somehow, against Pakistan, he has not been effective. Whether it is the pace attack or some other reason, it remains an issue."
Ravindra Jadeja's retirement from T20I also a massive blow for India: Bazid Khan
The former Pakistan player also spoke about how Ravindra Jadeja's T20I retirement will have a massive impact on India in the shortest format of the game.
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"People talk about Virat and Rohit, but Jadeja was someone who really helped the team gel together. Axar Patel is there, but Jadeja gave you balance as a batter, as a bowler, and above all, his fielding. In world cricket, Jadeja was among the top one or two fielders.
Notably, India's 15-member squad for the Continental Cup resembles a lot of two-dimensional players like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, & Harshit Rana.
India Asia Cup 2025 Squad List: 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.
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Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Dhruv Jurel.
