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Former India selector Kris Srikkanth has criticized the national team’s squad selection for the forthcoming ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025, highlighting several weaknesses in the lineup.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth questioned India’s chances of winning next year’s ICC T20 World Cup.
The marquee event will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026, with a tentative schedule from February to March.
“We might win the Asia Cup with this team, but there is no chance of winning the T20 World Cup with this bunch,” he said.
Are you going to take this team to the World Cup? Is this the preparation for a tournament that is hardly six months away?” Srikkanth questioned
The 65-year-old emphasized the removal of the vice-captain and addition of several batters in the Indian squad.
“They have gone backwards. Axar Patel has been removed from vice-captaincy. I don’t know how Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, and Harshit Rana have been included. IPL is considered the main criterion for selection, but the selectors seem to have looked beyond that,” he remarked.
Kris Srikkanth also pondered some batting questions, particularly the exclusion of opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal from the squad.
“Who will bat at No. 5? It could be Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube or Rinku Singh. Hardik Pandya usually bats at No. 5, so Axar cannot bat at six.
I don’t understand how Dube was picked. Yashasvi Jaiswal has proven himself in both international cricket and the IPL. What about him?” he concluded.
For the uninitiated, Suryakumar Yadav will lead India for the first time in a major event, with Test skipper Shubman Gill being named as his deputy in the shorter format.
The Men in Blue will kick off their campaign in the Asia Cup 2025 against the hosts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on September 10 before squaring off against arch-rivals Pakistan four days later in the event’s blockbuster clash.
India Asia Cup 2025 Squad:
India: Suryakumar 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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