With the Asia Cup fast approaching, former India player Mohammad Kaif gave his thoughts on who he thinks should represent the Men in Blue in the tournament. He selected the playing XI and also a 15-member squad, consisting of four back up players.
“If we talk about the playing XI, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson will open. Tilak Verma will be No.3, followed by Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4 who will be the captain. Axar Patel will come in at No.5 and will also be the vice captain and he will be followed by Hardik Pandya at No.6. Shivam Dube will be at No.7, Washington Sundar will be at No.8. Kuldeep Yadav will be No.9, Arshdeep Singh will be no.10 and Jasprit Bumrah will be at No.11,” Kaif said on X.
“If I add 4 more names and talk about the squad, then Shubman Gill be the back up opener and Jitesh Sharma will be the backup wicketkeeper. The other two players will be Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammed Siraj,” Kaif added.
What’s your Asia Cup playing 11?
Tell us in the comments! pic.twitter.com/tQXc1TUvC8— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 16, 2025
The Asia Cup is slated to start on September 9 while India’s first match is scheduled on September 10 against the UAE. The blockbuster India vs Pakistan match will follow next on September 14 and India will wrap up their group commitments with an encounter against Oman on September 19.
While the BCCI are the designated host, the tournament will be played in a neutral setting in the United Arab Emirates with eight teams in contention. Besides India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh the competition will comprise Hong Kong, UAE and Oman.
With only six months left until the next T20 World Cup iteration to be played in India and Sri Lanka, the continental tournament will return to the T20 format. The previous edition of the Asia Cup was played in the ODI format on the road to the 2023 Cricket World Cup, where India demolished hosts Sri Lanka to lift the title.
