Asia Cup: India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha stress T20 cricket’s unpredictability, downplaying India’s top ranking.
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India Enter Asia Cup 2025 as Overwhelming Favourites
With a record eight Asia Cup titles, current form as reigning T20 World champions, a balanced squad, and power-packed players, India enters the 2025 Asia Cup as the overwhelming favourite.
The number one-ranked T20 side will begin their campaign against the UAE on Wednesday, while the tournament officially opens with Afghanistan facing Hong Kong on Tuesday. Ahead of the action, captains of all eight participating teams gathered for a pre-tournament press conference.
During the presser, both India captain Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha were asked about India’s status as the top-ranked team. Both chose to downplay the question.
When informed by a journalist that India is being treated as the form favourite by a wide margin, Suryakumar responded with a smile, “Kisne bola? Maine toh nahi suna (Who said this? I didn’t hear anything of this sort). We are playing this format for a long time. If your preparations are good, you enter the field with a lot of confidence.”
India Ready After Long T20 Break, Pakistan Cautions on Format’s Unpredictability
India haven’t played as a T20 unit for a long time, with their last international match being against England at home earlier this year. Suryakumar Yadav, however, said the team reached the UAE early and has already had a few productive practice sessions.
“Yes, we are playing after a long time. But we landed here three to four days back. We have had some good practice sessions. So we are really looking forward to this tournament,” he said.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha acknowledged India as strong favourites but stressed the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket.
“In T20s, I don’t really think anyone is favourite, because on a particular day you have to play good cricket. It’s a very fast game. In one or two overs, the game can change,” he said. Pakistan entered the Asia Cup after winning the tri-series against the UAE and Afghanistan. “The tri-series was always a preparation. If you won it, that’s very good. If you didn’t, we still have to play, come here, play good cricket, and aim to win the Asia Cup.”