Mohammad Kaif names his India XI for Asia Cup 2025; Snubs Varun Chakravarthy

Mohammad Kaif picked Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as openers in his India XI for Asia Cup 2025.

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has picked his playing XI of the Indian Cricket Team for Asia Cup 2025. The tournament will kickstart on September 9 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with India placed alongside Pakistan, Oman, and UAE in Group A.

Kaif, who posted a video on his YouTube channel, snubbed Varun Chakravarthy from the XI and went ahead with Kuldeep Yadav. Chakravarthy finished as the highest wicket-taker for India in the last T20I series against England earlier this year, clinching 14 wickets across five matches to help the team seal a 4-1 series win.

Kaif went with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as openers of the side. With 535 runs across 17 games since his debut in 2024, Abhishek has emerged as a promising opener for India. In the middle order, he chose Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, and spin all-rounder Axar Patel.

Yadav, the current T20I skipper, will lead India in Asia Cup 2025. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube were two seam all-rounders in Kaif’s playing XI. Both of them played a crucial role during India’s quest for the title in ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also included all-rounder Washington Sundar, who impressed many with his heroics with the bat and ball in the recently-concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah were two pacers in his team

Mohammad Kaif’s India’s playing XI for Asia Cup 2025

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

Surprisingly, Kaif did not pick Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal in his team. Moreover, he also overlooked Mohammed Siraj in the pace department.

Meanwhile, India are the defending champion of the Asia Cup as they defeated Sri Lanka in final of the last edition of the tournament in 2023. The Men in Blue will commence their campaign in the tournament with the opening clash against the UAE on September 10.

They will later face Pakistan on September 14 and Oman on September 19 in the group stage. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong are part of Group B in the tournament. Asia Cup 2025 final will be played on September 28 in Dubai.

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