Ryan Ten Doeschate indirectly reveals India's playing XI for Asia Cup 2025 clash against Pakistan, suspense over Arshdeep Singh ends

In a pre-match press conference, India's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate, announced that the team has no plans to change their playing eleven for the highly anticipated Asia Cup 2025 match against Pakistan.

Both teams are coming into the blockbuster game with strong momentum from their opening matches. India started their campaign with a decisive victory over the hosts, UAE, on September 10, while Pakistan secured a dominant win against Oman on September 12. India currently hold a superior net run rate (NRR). Their victory over the UAE with 93 balls to spare has given them a commanding NRR of +10.483. Meanwhile, Pakistan's 93-run win over Oman has given them a healthy NRR of +4.650.

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In a recent media interaction, India's fielding coach, Ryan Ten Doeschate, confirmed that the team management does not plan to make any changes to their playing XI for the highly anticipated match against Pakistan.

This decision means that India will field three frontline spinners in the game. Furthermore, Shivam Dube will retain his spot as the third seamer, joining Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. This selection also means that bowler Arshdeep Singh will have to wait for another opportunity to claim his 100th T20I wicket.

"We are unlikely to make any changes," Doeschate said in the press conference.

Since his debut in 2021, Arshdeep Singh has become a vital part of the Indian cricket team's T20I lineup, emerging as one of the format's top bowlers. The left-arm pacer has featured in 63 T20I matches for India, including major tournaments like the 2022 Asia Cup and the 2022 and 2024 ICC T20 World Cups, where India were the champions.

In the 2024 T20 World Cup, Arshdeep had a remarkable performance, tying with Jasprit Bumrah as India's leading wicket-taker. He finished the tournament as the overall highest wicket-taker for the team with 17 wickets. With a total of 99 wickets, he is India's highest wicket-taker in the T20I format and is just one wicket shy of becoming the first Indian player to reach the 100-wicket milestone. However, if he does not play in the upcoming match against Pakistan, it will be his third consecutive T20I game on the bench. The last time Pakistan defeated India in the Asia Cup was in the 2022 edition.