R Ashwin's Calls India Star "Amateurish", Sends Selection Message For Asia Cup Final

India were given a mighty scare by Sri Lanka in the Suryakumar Yadav-led side's last match before the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan. India scored 202 batting first and was taken to a Super Over after some great batting by centurion Pathum Nissanka. Harshit Rana, who was playing in place of Jasprit Bumrah, gave away 54 runs in his four overs and could take only one wicket. Former India star Ashwin criticised his bowling against Sri Lanka.

"I just want to speak about Harshit Rana. He has played a few games. He hasn't played a few games. It is not easy to play one match and then sit out. It could really be flattening for your confidence, and also make you a bit rusty. But the mistakes made by Harshit against Sri Lanka were really amateurish," said Ashwin on his YouTube channel 'Ash Ki Baat'.

"I thought the game was done in the powerplay, but India made a stellar comeback after that. Harshit Rana was cranking up the speed. He hit him on the head, and then he followed it up with a slower ball. Nissanka played it beautifully. Harshit Rana was just bowling slower balls after delivering a fast-paced delivery. One fast, one slow, one fast, and one slow. That is a really amateurish way of playing cricket. He should really learn from this," he added.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla has lauded the Indian team for their strong performance in the ongoing T20 Asia Cup and expressed confidence that the team will win the title. India will face arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 final, scheduled to take place at the Dubai International Stadium on September 28.

This will be the first-ever Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan in the tournament's 41-year history, adding an extra layer of excitement to the clash. India has defeated Pakistan twice in this edition of the Asia Cup.

Shukla said the team has a good combination. India has remained undefeated in the tournament.

"Our team has performed brilliantly in the #AsiaCup2025. The team has a good combination. I am very confident that we will be the Asia Cup Champions and lift the Cup. Best wishes to Team India," Shukla told ANI.

With ANI inputs 

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Sri Lanka Cricket Team Harshit Rana Ravichandran Ashwin Asia Cup 2025 Cricket