"Pakistan Team Looks Very Depleted": Mohammad Azharuddin To NDTV Ahead Of Asia Cup Clash

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be facing each other in the Asia Cup 2025. The two sides will be playing a Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. For the high-octane encounter, India are the favorites. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side kicked off its campaign with a record-breaking 9-wicket win against the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan, on the other hand, also had a winning start. The Salman Agha-led side outplayed Oman by 93 runs. Both matches were played in Dubai. (Asia Cup 2025 LIVE Score: India vs Pakistan Live Updates | Follow here)

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, during an exclusive interaction with NDTV, said that the Pakistan team looks depleted in the absence of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Notably, the two players have not been picked in the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup.

"We have outstanding quality of players. We have great players. We already have players who are performing with distinction. The Pakistan team will find very hard to dislodge Indian team in this tournament because we have lot of experience. At the same time, the Pakistan team, they don't have the best players. They have dropped Babar Azam and (Mohammad) Rizwan so the team looks very depleted," said Azharuddin.

"But cricket is a game where we don't know what will happen tomorrow. But if you see the performance on paper over a period of time, the Indian team is very very strong," he added.

Meanwhile, ex-India player Nikhil Chopra, who was also present there during the interaction, said, "You look at the 15 for Team India. You look at the experience and the match-winners. Somebody like Yashasvi Jaiswal is not getting an opportunity to make to the squad. We are talking about Arshdeep (Singh) not getting a game. It just goes to show the quality (of the team)."

While the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer failed to make it to the India squad, a player of Arshdeep Singh's caliber warmed the bench in the side's opening match.

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"The three spinners (Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy) that India are looking to field. Jasprit Bumrah, Shivam Dube - the all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, with the ability that he has to win games. You look at the 11 or 15. On their day, they are all able to turn the game on its head. Thanks to the IPL, thanks to the infrastructure of the BCCI," Chopra added.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Asia Cup 2025 India vs Pakistan, Match 6 Mohammad Azharuddin Nikhil Chopra