Asia Cup 2025: Can India Overcome T20I Inactivity to Defend Continental Title?

NEW DELHI: Heading into the Asia Cup 2025, the defending champions India will still start as favourites. Their record in the continental tournament, too, boosts their credentials, having won it a record eight times. Yet the biggest question is: Are India undercooked? Will adapting to T20I conditions in the UAE prove tricky? India last played a T20I at home against England in February, where they won the five-match series 4-1 with ease. Since then, most players have featured in different formats but not in T20 cricket. In fact, apart from Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Harshit Rana, no other member of the current 15-man Asia Cup squad has played a T20 match in the build-up to the tournament. Samson has been turning out in the Kerala Cricket League, Rinku in the UPT20, and Rana in the Delhi Premier League. Meanwhile, captain Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube kept themselves sharp in Mumbai’s T20 league. The rest, however, will be returning to the shortest format after a significant break. On the other hand, India’s rivals — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, hosts UAE, Pakistan and Afghanistan — have all played T20I series during this period, giving them more direct preparation and match awareness ahead of the continental competition. Does this three-month gap from T20 cricket put India at a disadvantage? Will they enter the Asia Cup underdone, giving Pakistan, Afghanistan and others the upper hand? Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan doesn’t think so. Irfan believes the defending champions are well prepared regardless of their lack of match practice. Pathan stressed that India have no reason to be concerned about Pakistan, but they must plan carefully for Afghanistan, whose spinners could thrive on the UAE’s slower pitches. "If there’s one team India needs to be wary of, it’s Afghanistan. On slow pitches, their bowlers can cause real trouble and be very effective on those tracks. "Pakistan, on the other hand, are still trying to regroup. They are searching for leadership and looking for players who can step up and play big roles consistently at the top," Irfan told TimesofIndia.com during an interaction organised by Sony Sports. "When it comes to Indian cricket, I feel they are always in touch with the game. The NCA has built a very good system. Contracted players can go there anytime, prepare themselves, undergo fitness tests, and even take part in match simulations. "Recently, a fitness test was conducted at the NCA, and the fact that coaches are available there throughout the year ensures that players always have support," he said. "Because of these preparations, there is really nothing to worry about. Indian cricket is at a stage where, even if they are slightly undercooked or haven’t played enough T20 cricket in recent times, it might only affect them at the very start of a tournament. As the competition progresses, I don’t see any issues. The level of preparation these days is outstanding, and for that, I give full credit to the NCA,” he said. 'Gill will try to prove a point' There has been plenty of discussion around Shubman Gill’s appointment as vice-captain of the T20I side for the Asia Cup. Irfan believes Gill’s elevation as deputy to Suryakumar Yadav will do a “world of good” to the Indian team. The Test captain, fresh from a stellar batting performance in England that helped India draw the series 2-2, will now look to “prove a point” in the shortest format. “This selection of Shubman Gill as vice-captain would not have happened without the consent of Suryakumar Yadav. His (Suryakumar’s) responsibility is not only to perform and look after the team, but at the same time grow leadership, grow the team and he has started doing that. People might think that puts pressure on him, but what he is doing is actually doing a world of good for Indian cricket in the long term, and it will establish Suryakumar Yadav as a proper leader who is respected, especially in the cricketing community,” he said. “What we have seen this season, the way he played, the amount of runs he scored in the last few seasons in the IPL as well. Now the Indian team has moved towards playing at a higher strike rate. They want to be very aggressive. I don’t think there will be an issue for Gill to start playing an aggressive role and do what the team demands of him. More than anyone else in this group, Gill will go there and try to prove a point in terms of playing aggressive cricket. He has the ability and he has got a lot of range,” he added. 'Rohit wants to continue playing ODIs' Pathan revealed Rohit Sharma, who has retired from T20Is and Tests, has expressed his wish to continue playing ODIs for as long as possible but said getting game-time will be a challenge for the former captain and even Virat Kohli. “This new fitness test is obviously not easy, so once you're able to clear it, that means your fitness is top-notch. I had a long call with him as well, just to know about his future plans. He’s very keen. He wants to make sure that he continues playing. As long as the player is fit, age doesn’t matter. But the challenge will be for him to get enough game-time. Playing for India, I don’t think there will be any issues with motivation," Pathan said. “Be it Rohit, be it Virat or be it Mohammed Shami as well, the question is how much game-time they will have and how long they can continue playing cricket in whatever form, because they have retired from Test cricket and T20 Internationals as well,” Pathan said.