Asia Cup 2025: Irfan Pathan reveals his strongest India Playing XI

Irfan Pathan, one of India's finest all-rounders of his time, has shared his strongest Playing XI for the Indian team ahead of the upcoming Men's Asia Cup 2025. The marquee event will be played in the shortest format of the game, and India have already named their squad for the tournament, which begins on September 9 and will be played across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

To open the innings, Irfan has picked the Punjab duo of Abhishek Sharma and vice-captain Shubman Gill, followed by the in-form Tilak Varma at No. 3. To comprise the middle-order, captain Suryakumar Yadav has been picked to bat at four, while the likes of Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel are the two most experienced all-rounders picked by the Baroda-born via his official YouTube channel on Saturday, September 6.

As wicketkeeper, Irfan's choice is a little interesting to see, since he has demoted Sanju Samson to the No. 5 position and asked him to handle the duty behind the wickets as well. However, the selectors have picked Jitesh Sharma as their first-choice wicketkeeper, and the Vidarbha cricketer is also used to batting in the middle order. But, Samson too has batted in the middle order in the Kerala Cricket League, and looked in fine form, which may have prompted the cricketer-turned-commentator to go for the Thiruvananthapuram-born.

Among the bowlers, the choice was rather a straightforward one for the spin department would be taken care of by left-arm unorthodox of Kuldeep Yadav. On the other hand, the pace battery will be led by Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh. It is worth mentioning that Hardik will also provide a seaming option, while Axar and Abhishek do so as spinners.

Irfan Pathan's strongest India Playing XI for Asia Cup 2025: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy

India squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy