Former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin highlighted several Pakistan players who could change the course of the match against India, particularly mentioning Sufiyan Muqeem as a potential hero in the highly anticipated Asia Cup 2025 clash.
Sharing his views regarding the blockbuster clash on his YouTube channel, Ashwin expressed his excitement to watch Pakistan batters Mohammad Haris and Saim Ayub.
“From Pakistan’s side, the two players I’m most excited to watch are Mohammad Haris and Saim Ayub. I want to see how they handle the Indian bowling attack. If both of them bat well, then Pakistan will have a decent chance,” Ashwin said.
The 38-year-old heaped praise on left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem as a game-changer for Pakistan, highlighting his potential.
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“As for an hero from Pakistan, it could be Sufiyan Muqeem. He didn’t bowl that well in the last game and he’s a bit inconsistent, which makes things tricky in T20 cricket. But I’m curious to see how Pakistan grooms him and how he approaches the game, so I’ll be watching closely to see how he performs,” he said.
For context, Pakistan and India are set to face each other for the first time since the escalated tensions in May.
India and Pakistan have both started their Asia Cup 2025 in a dominant way, with the former beating UAE by a hefty margin of nine wickets, whereas the latter crushed Oman by 93 runs to set up an intriguing showdown between them.
Pakistan squad: Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
READ: Pakistan players to watch out in Asia Cup 2025 clash against India