Pakistan’s Aaqib Javed Challenges India Ahead of Asia Cup 2025, Says ‘This Team Can Beat India’

The director of Pakistan Aaqib Javed has heated the situation with a daring statement before the Asia Cup 2025. After Pakistan announced its 17-member squad, Javed said he was confident that the side, although several prominent names were left out, could upset the arch-rivals India in the tournament this year.

Asia Cup 2025 squad announcement

Asia Cup 2025 will be of T20I format with 9 to 28 September in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The competition will involve eight teams with Pakistan having Salman Ali Agha as the leader. Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah, however, are not part of the squad.

Many were surprised by the absence of the top run getters of Pakistan in T20Is, Babar and Rizwan. But Javed was sure that the new team is good enough to play against India, one of the largest matches of the tournament. His comments are made with Pakistan set to take on Group A on September 14 in Dubai.

“This team has the ability to beat India in the Asia Cup. Whether you like it or not, the match between India and Pakistan is the biggest in world cricket. Every player knows this,” Javed stated after the squad was revealed.

India vs Pakistan rivalry at Asia Cup 2025

The game between India and Pakistan in the 2025 Asia cup is already being discussed as the group-stage game. With the game to be played in Dubai, it is expected that both teams are going to arrive with a full stadium. Javed believes that his team is balanced and energetic enough to meet the challenge.

In spite of the poor performance of Pakistan in Bangladesh last month, Javed did not lose hope on the players. “Our squad can beat any team. Everyone is ready. Everyone knows the situation surrounding the two countries (India and Pakistan). But we don’t need to put extra pressure on them,” he added.

Babar Azam’s exclusion explained

Omission of the previous captain Babar Azam has been one of the biggest areas of debate. White-ball head coach of Pakistan Mike Hesson justified the move to give him time to work on technical aspects of his T20 batting. It is simply a matter of him hitting the ball better and to cope with spin.

“There’s no doubt Babar has been asked to improve in some areas, particularly against spin and in terms of his strike rate,” Hesson said. Although the ruling was a controversial one, the management is of the opinion that it will in the future benefit Pakistan because it will create a team with different capabilities.

Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025 squad

The selected team is a combination of the old and new faces. Salman Ali Agha will lead this team featuring Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Sufiyan Muqeem, and Abrar Ahmed.

Pakistan will be hoping to get the balance right with Shaheen Shah Afridi being the leader of the pace attack and a pair of all rounders offering depth. The fiery statement made by Javed has already warmed the tournament and there are high hopes that another nail-biting India-Pakistan encounter would be seen at the Asia Cup 2025.

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