Former Player Takes Sly Swipe At India Captain Suryakumar Yadav Over His Pakistan Struggles Before Asia Cup 2025

Former Pakistan player Bazid Khan has recently spoken about the challenges India might face in the upcoming ACC Asia Cup 2025. He has also taken a dig at the India captain, Suryakumar Yadav, over his prolonged struggles against the team. Notably, the T20 league will commence on September 9 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the reigning champions India set to start their campaign the following day.

Bazid Khan on Challenges of Team India Post Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma Era

The upcoming Asia Cup 2025 is going to be the maiden multi-national 20-over event of India, since the legendary pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma‘s retirement from the format following the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2024. The duo also played a crucial role in India’s latest ICC Champions Trophy 2025 victory in March.

While acknowledging that India has named a strong squad in a bid to defend their title in the league, the former Pakistani batter stressed that the absence of two of the stalwarts of the game might trouble the team in the upcoming tournament.

“All these players are high-class. There is no one here you would say is not of that calibre. But the high intensity that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma brought to the game, that is something India will surely miss,” he stated to PTV Sports.

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Bazid also noted that the current T20I captain of India, Suryakumar Yadav, has struggled to find his form against the arch-rivals Pakistan. The swashbuckling batter, who is currently ranked sixth in the ICC batting rankings, has endured a poor run against the Men in Green in his career so far.

“Suryakumar scores runs against almost everyone, but somehow against Pakistan he hasn’t been effective. Whether it is the pace attack or some other reason, it remains an issue,” added the former player.

Suryakumar Yadav Against Pakistan in Multi-national Tournaments

The neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan, have stopped playing bilateral series against each other due to the political conflicts. However, the two nations continue to clash against each other in the multi-national mega events, including the World Cups, Asia Cup and the Champions Trophy.

Notably, Suryakumar has faced the opposition in five matches so far, since the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. He has managed to put up only 64 runs, averaging just 12.80, at a sub-par strike rate of 118.51. Moreover, the star batter is yet to cross the 20-run mark in an innings against Pakistan.

The skipper would definitely want to put an end to these abysmal stats in the upcoming fixture against Salman Ali Agha and Co. The much-anticipated fixture between these two teams will take place on September 14 in the Dubai International Stadium.