No Rohit Sharma syndrome tonight for Suryakumar Yadav; India captain clearly lists out team changes against Pakistan

The epic clash is back. After receiving a drubbing from India, Pakistan are all set to face their nemesis for the second time in eight days at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for their first Super Four clash of the Asia Cup 2025.

While Pakistan and India have qualified from Group A, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have made it to the Super Four from Group B. In the first clash of this round, Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets, and now they sit at the top of the table. Notably, all four teams will play a game against each other, and ultimately, the top two will move on to face off in the finale.

India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 Super Four toss update

As for the ongoing clash between India and Pakistan, the toss has been done. Suryakumar Yadav, the skipper of the Indian team, won the coin flip and opted to field first in the game. Both teams have made a couple of changes to their playing XI from the last game.

India’s team changes

In their last outing against Oman, India decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy. Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh replaced them in the eleven. However, for this all-important clash against Pakistan, the changes have been undone, and the Bumrah, Varun duo has been reinstated into the XI.

Interestingly, during this game Suryakumar Yadav listed out the changes without any hiccup. During the previous outing against Oman, the Indian skipper forgot the changes of his side, a slip-up that turned out to be a humorous moment for the fans on social media.

Pakistan team changes

Pakistan have also made two changes to their side. Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah have been dropped for this game. Hussain Talat and Faheem Ashraf have found their way into the side.

Both Talat and Ashraf are all-rounders and are expected to add depth to both the batting and bowling of the team.

Also, as the reports suggest, Saim Ayub will be batting at number four for today's game, while the senior pro Fakhar Zaman will be seen opening for Pakistan. Notably, Ayub has been opening for them in the tournament and in the three matches so far, he has not scored a single run. This change by Pakistan could address two issues -

Fakhar Zaman gets them out of the powerplay blues with his aggressive intent

Saim Ayub gets time in the middle-order and finds back his form with the bat

The handshake row continues

There were a lot of discussions, deliberations, accusations, and drama regarding the Indian team not shaking hands with their counterparts during the previous clash on 14th September. As it seems, the Indian team has decided to stand their ground as Suryakumar Yadav avoided any kind of interaction with his counterpart ahead of the Super Four clash, too.

India playing XI: Abhishek Shamra, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy

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