The Indian team has won both of its first two games in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 and qualified for the Super 4s stage. India first defeated the UAE in their tournament opener in a crushing 9-wicket victory, chasing 57 runs.
Then, in a much-anticipated match against Pakistan on Sunday, in Dubai, India outplayed the Men in Green with both the bat and the ball, registering a 7-wicket win. Kuldeep Yadav won the Player of the Match in both matches, while Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav starred with the bat.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra explained that Afghanistan, considered the second-best team in Asia after India, is struggling with its batting in the tournament.
“Bangladesh is still alive after beating Afghanistan, but Afghanistan is finding it tough to bat. The bowling is fine, the fielding is okay, but the batting is the problem,” he said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra also compared India’s setup with Pakistan’s. He noted that Pakistan’s batting lineup is weaker than India’s second string.
“If you compare Pakistan’s batting with India A, our second team is probably stronger. Pakistan doesn’t really have match-winners across the board like we do,” he said.
Chopra also made comparisons to Australia's previous approach, in which the national squad and Australia A played in a quadrangular series in 1994. The Australia A team advanced to the final by defeating Zimbabwe and England.
Chopra thinks India might gain from a similar strategy that keeps a strong core squad while providing young players with exposure and match practice.
He advocated for a powerful India A squad featuring players like Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, and Shreyas Iyer. Chopra thinks that doing this would help India gain an advantage and produce future match winners.
Additionally, Chopra emphasized that although India's current senior squad is excellent at both bowling and batting, exposing a second team might ensure that gifted players are not left behind due to slot constraints.
