Former India opener Kris Srikkanth has openly dismissed Pakistan’s chances in the T20 Asia Cup 2025 final against India, declaring, “I won’t give Pakistan even a 1% chance.” Despite Pakistan making it to the final after two losses to India, Srikkanth emphasized the significant gap between the teams, pointing out India’s superior bowling attack with Jasprit Bumrah returning to the playing eleven.

He said, “Yes, you can ask what happened against Sri Lanka and how India were almost beaten. Don’t forget Jasprit Bumrah didn’t play in the match. And Harshit Rana, who is a sub-par bowler, played. He is just a film bowler. The Sri Lankan batters derived full confidence only after smashing him. There is an ocean of difference between Bumrah and Harshit Rana.”

Abhishek Sharma

Addressing concerns about India’s dependency on Abhishek Sharma, who has been in outstanding form during the tournament, Srikkanth showed confidence in India’s batting depth. “India will absolutely clobber Pakistan. Yes, Abhishek Sharma is the main man for India. But I’ve been asked by many on what will happen if Abhishek Sharma fails. Even assuming he fails tomorrow through the law of averages, we still have Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson back in form along with Tilak Varma, who has done well in limited opportunities.”

Srikkanth highlighted Pakistan’s batting vulnerabilities, noting they rely heavily on Shaheen Afridi as a main batter. “On the other hand, Pakistan are playing with Shaheen Afridi as their main batter. So even if Abhishek’s runs are discounted or if he fails, Pakistan stands no chance against India. Although in the current form, I don’t see Abhishek Sharma getting out early unless he gets himself out.”

Abhishek Sharma has been the standout batter at the Asia Cup 2025, leading the run charts with 309 runs from six innings at an average of 51.50 and an impressive strike rate of 204.64. He has scored three half-centuries and smashed 19 sixes, seven more than the next highest six-hitter in the tournament.

SQUADS
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.