NEW DELHI: Former India batter
Mohammad Kaif has sounded a warning ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, expressing concern that the Suryakumar Yadav-led side could struggle without a third all-rounder in their playing XI.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Kaif highlighted how India’s balance in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which they won under
Rohit Sharma, was built on the presence of three multi-dimensional players in the lineup.
"Rohit's team won the T20 World Cup with 3 all-rounders – Axar, Jadeja, Hardik – and that meant 6 proper bowling options and batting till 8. At Asia Cup, with only 2 genuine all-rounders – Hardik and Axar – India will have to find a new winning combination. Washington Sundar will be missed," Kaif wrote on X.
In the T20 World Cup triumph across the USA and West Indies, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja each delivered at crucial stages, giving India the luxury of depth in both batting and bowling. However, with Jadeja announcing retirement from T20Is alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after the tournament, India's resources in that department have thinned.
Selectors have named Washington Sundar only as a standby player for the Asia Cup, leaving just Pandya and Axar as frontline all-rounders in the 15-member squad.
Kaif's concerns underline a potential imbalance that India will need to address quickly, especially in a tournament where flexibility in both batting and bowling has historically proven decisive. All eyes will now be on captain
Suryakumar Yadav and coach
Gautam Gambhir as they attempt to forge a new winning combination in the post-Rohit era.
India's squad for Asia Cup 2025
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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