Asia Cup 2025: 3 players who could have been picked instead of Shivam Dube in India’s squad

2. KL Rahul

KL Rahul has been criticised over the years for his strike rates in the shortest format. However, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, he showed that he has ditched his previous conservative approach and relied on aggressive batting to dominate opposition bowlers. Rahul scored 539 runs in 13 matches at an average of 53.90 and a strike rate of 149.72, his best strike rate in any season since 2018.

The 33-year-old has played 72 T20Is, amassing 2265 runs at an average of 37.75 and a strike rate of 139.13. However, he has not played a T20I since India's defeat in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in 2022 against England. Rahul is equally adept at hitting the big shots against pacers as well as spinners and this could have benefitted India immensely, especially in UAE.