After a stellar outing in the group stages, India will begin their Super Four journey in the Asia Cup 2025 on Sunday, as they take on Pakistan.
Suryakumar Yadav and his men will be hoping to continue their prowess over Pakistan after winning their recent group stage match against the arch-rivals as well. Although the encounter garnered a lot of interest for off-the-field incidents and a no-handshake controversy, the Indian team was by far the superior on the night, as they have been against Pakistan in recent times.
The Indian team made a few changes in the final group stage match against Oman as the likes of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh came in. With the Pakistan match on the fray, we may see the reinstatement of Varun Chakravarthy, who was
left out of the team for the last match.
Varun Chakravarthy played the first two matches of the Asia Cup and has been decent in those outings. The mystery spinner has cemented his place in India's limited overs format in recent months. Since making a return to the national team last year, Varun's trajectory has soared upward.
And while speaking on the player, India captain Suryakumar Yadav pointed out a unique pattern of preparation. Surya mentioned Varun bowled at the stadium as warmup on Friday despite his non-involvement in the Oman game, and the player was pumped up even in the practice on Saturday.
"He did bowl a lot in the nets yesterday. That's his routine. If he is playing or not playing, he likes to come to the ground, bowl around 8 to 10 overs. And today also in the warm-up, he was almost pumped up. It felt like he was playing the game. I had to tell him that Macha, you are taking rest today. But his preparations are spot on," Suryakumar Yadav said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday (September 20).
"Irrespective of whether he is playing or not playing, I think that's one thing which is different from everyone is his preparation. So I feel he is always ready to play the game," he added.
The India captain also revealed how to detach themselves amid the ongoing controversy with Pakistan. As the Indian team take field on Sunday, they would be raring to beat their arch rivals again, which would propel them towards a place in the Final.
