Advertisement
Advertisement
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has shared his perspective on what the Green Shirts must do to defeat India in their blockbuster Asia Cup 2025 showdown.
Speaking on a local sports show, Malik underlined the importance of Pakistan striking early with the ball to dent India’s formidable batting lineup.
“The toss is not in anyone’s control, not even Pakistan’s,” Malik remarked. “But the best chance is if Pakistan can remove three to four of India’s top batters quickly and restrict them to a low score.”
“If they can bring India’s total down to around 150–160, that’s a situation where Pakistan can win.”
The seasoned all-rounder also pointed to the middle overs as a decisive phase, where spinners could turn the tide in Pakistan’s favour.
“The second scenario is in the middle overs,” Malik explained.
“If spinners like Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed can pick up three wickets each, that could open the game up. Because whether India bats first or second, if their batters don’t lose wickets, you are never really in the contest.”
The much-anticipated Pakistan–India encounter is set for later today at the Dubai International Stadium.
It will mark the 14th T20I contest between the two sides, with India holding a dominant record of 10 wins from 13 matches.
Their last meeting in the format was during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in New York, where Rohit Sharma’s men prevailed in a tense, low-scoring contest against Babar Azam’s side.
Pakistan squad: Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
India squad: 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.
