Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has spoken about key players for India in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 tournament. The tournament will be played in the UAE from September 9-28.
India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, UAE and Oman. Team India are currently the number one-ranked T20I side, having won the T20 World Cup last year. They also won a T20I series against England at the start of the year.
The BCCI has already announced India’s squad for the tournament. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side and Shubman Gill was named as his deputy. The players included in the side have had good IPL stints to how for in the last couple of seasons. A few players have missed out as well, despite being consistent with their performance.
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Abhishek Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy - Virender Sehwag's Gamechangers
There were lot of talks regarding the snubbing of players like Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj. Amid all the talks, Virender Sehwag has picked three players from the squad who he thinks can be India’s game-changers in the tournament.
“I think Abhishek Sharma can be a game-changer. Bumrah is always a game-changer. Varun Chakravarthy, with his mystery bowling, was very effective in the Champions Trophy and in the T20 format as well. So, these are some game changers for India who can win matches on their own,” Sehwag said on Sony Sports.
Speaking about the players he picked, Bumrah is making a comeback into the Indian T20I side since playing the T20 World Cup final last year. He is the second-highest wicket-taker for India among the players included after Arshdeep Singh and will lead the bowling attack.
Abhishek Sharma has redefined T20 batting since opening the innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. He has batted with the same intensity in the handful T20Is he has played. This is an important tournament for him to cement his place in India’s T20I side.
Sehwag’s final pick, Varun Chakravarthy, has come up the ranks since making his comeback in the T20I series against Bangladesh in 2024. His last T20I was against England earlier this year. In 18 matches, he secured 33 wickets with an economy rate of 7.02. IN 2024 alone, he has picked up 14 wickets from just five games.
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India's Asia Cup Campaign Begin On September 10
India kick off their Asia Cup campaign against UAE on September 10. Then they play against Pakistan on September 14 followed by their final league game against Oman on September 19. India and Pakistan can play as many as three games in the tournament.
India's squad for the Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel
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