- By Namrata Vijay
- Wed, 24 Sep 2025 12:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs BAN Asia Cup 2025 Super 4: Post defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by six wickets during their first Super 4 match, India will try to reach the summit clash when they lock horns with Bangladesh in Dubai on Wednesday. They have stayed unbeaten during the ongoing tournament till now as they have won all their 4 matches, which also includes the two matches against Pakistan, and now they are just 1 match away from qualifying for the final.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side's latest win against arch-rivals Pakistan came on the back of Abhishek Sharma's brilliant batting prowess, who had scored a match-winning knock of 74 runs off 39 balls and helped the team defeat Pakistan. It was India's second victory against the Men in Green in the Asia Cup 2025.
At the same time, the Litton Das-led side entered this tournament with a belief of their own. They began their stint in the Super 4 stage with a close win against Sri Lanka as they chased down the target of 169 runs with 4 wickets remaining. Saif Hassan's match-winning knock of 61 runs took the team across the line, whereas the bowlers gave the Sri Lankan batters a hard time. After defeating some of the formidable sides of this tournament, the Bangla Tigers will try to challenge India by playing on a slow and dry pitch.
On the other hand, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side has been consistent and has made a few changes to their playing XI, and that too in the match against Oman, where Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy were dropped. After that, the playing XI has remained the same, where each player has performed his role brilliantly. Spinners Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy have performed brilliantly during the middle overs, whereas Bumrah has spearheaded India's fast bowling attack.
But Bumrah's availability for the match against Bangladesh has come under scrutiny owing to his workload management. He had bowled consistently in this tournament, as he had bowled 3 overs in the power play. Considering the excessive heat in Dubai and with the two-match Test series against the West Indies around the corner, speculation that the team management might drop him for the match against Bangladesh. But India's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeshate has revealed that post the match against the Salman Ali Agha-led side, such a decision is unlikely.
We will have a better understanding of how the table sits after tonight (Pakistan versus Sri Lanka), but it's unlikely that you are going to the last game with the qualification. So, it's unlikely he is going to rest. Also, bearing in mind, we have a Test match starting on Thursday. So, it's actually quite good preparation in terms of workload management. If he plays all the games, he would have bowled in the region of 25-26 overs, which is a fairly good number a week before the Test. If we have the luxury to have that option in the last game, we will look at it. But we want to pick the best team at this stage. He is doing a tough job. You don't see many bowlers bowling three overs in the power play. It's quite strenuous. It's also the right amount of work going into the Test match and in this tournament," Ryan Ten Doeschate told reporters during the pre-match press conference.
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This proves that the Men in Blue might field the same playing XI that had thrashed Pakistan. With Abhishek Sharma in sublime form and Shubman Gill still adjusting to the opening position and Tilak Verma batting comfortably at the No.3 position, India's top-order looks settled. Suryakumar Yadav has batted consistently, whereas Sanju has tried to stay in the middle order. Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya have been brilliant as all-rounders, and the 3 spinners have bowled brilliantly as well.
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, the fitness of their skipper Litton Das will be the talking point. He was seen suffering from back pain while attending a practice session, but the team management has dismissed these claims. Their other headache is whether to replace Shoriful Islam with Tanzim Hasan, who had a forgetful outing against Sri Lanka. Mustafizur Rahman will once again try to repeat his heroics with the ball. His cutters on such pitches will make him equally dangerous, and his brilliant performance against Sri Lanka is proof of that.
They will also depend on their spinners heavily. Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed took advantage of the slow pitch during their last match, and they will try to do the same against India. Samson and India's other middle-order batters might have a hard time playing against Mustafizur's brilliant variations, which might affect the whole match.
India predicted XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.