'I doubt they will give much competition...': Ravichandran Ashwin backs India to emerge victorious over Pakistan in Asia Cup clash

Legendary India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Pakistan won't be able to offer much competition to the Men in Blue in their Super 4 clash on September 21. This comes after Suryakumar Yadav & Co. handed their arch-rivals a comprehensive 7-wicket defeat earlier on in the tournament and once again asserted their dominance in the rivalry.

He also took a sly dig on Pakistan batter Saim Ayub's form and hoped for him to finally get some runs in the tournament. Notably, the left-hand batter is yet to score a run in Asia Cup 2025 and has recorded ducks in all of the Men in Green's three matches so far.

ALSO READ: 'A situation could come where...': Irfan Pathan wants this bowler to be included in India's playing XI for Pakistan clash

"If Pakistan even competes in this game, it'll be an upset. From their point of view, I just want to see Saim Ayub score some runs instead of getting out first ball because he is a good cricketer. There aren't too many concerns to address for India. If I was India, I would want Pakistan to challenge them with the T20 World Cup around the corner,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.

"I doubt they'll give much competition to India in the upcoming match as well. It's just going to be yet another India-Pakistan match with the associate teams out of the tournament, that's it. Pakistan are still struggling to even scale 150. They are barely getting there only by Shaheen Afridi's batting,” he added.

Ashwin criticises PCB

On the other hand, Ashwin also slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the unnecessary drama they created before their Asia Cup clash against UAE. It all began after PCB alleged that match referee Andy Pycroft had told Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha to not shake hands with India captain Suryakumar after the conclusion of their group stage clash. PCB even threatened to boycott their game against UAE if Pycroft was named as the match referee.

Ashwin left impressed with Pycroft

Ashwin lauded Pycroft for handling the situation very well and remarked that there was no reason for the PCB to complain about the match referee. He further stated that the former Zimbabwe cricketer was made the scapegoat despite not being at fault for anything.

“Andy Pycroft actually saved everybody from seeing such a poor spectacle. India informed the match referee in advance — this is our decision, and we will follow it. That’s it. After all this drama, you lost the match. So, what are you complaining about? You didn’t lose because we didn’t shake hands. Please go and find out what you can actually improve," Ashwin stated.

"If no handshake was your problem with India, why were you looking for an answer to that problem in the UAE game? Why did you have to make Andy Pycroft the scapegoat? He has done nothing wrong. He is not a schoolteacher. He’s not a principal. He can’t go and bring Surya and say, ‘Come shake hands’. That’s not his job. What exactly is Pycroft’s fault here," he added.

ALSO READ: 'There is nothing more to talk about it...': Ravichandran Ashwin's blunt take on India-Pakistan rivalry ahead of Asia Cup clash

Meanwhile, the upcoming Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan will be held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. This will be both the sides' opening match of the Super 4 stage so both of them will be eager to make a positive start.