The Asia Cup 2025 is here, and Team India start their campaign against UAE on September 10. If the recent tri-series among Afghanistan-Pakistan-UAE is anything to go by, the wickets will have a lot of runs, but spinners will have a key role to play. So, is India well-equipped to deal with the spin threat in the competition?
Indian Batters Against Spin in T20Is
A superficial answer will be, yes. But if one was to dig deep and look at how the Indian batters have performed in T20Is against spin, it isn’t the most impressive. Let’s go step-by-step here. First up is the top-order. Veteran Sanju Samson has played 24 innings against various spinners, and has scored 327 runs at an average of 27. The strike-rate is over 150, but the concerning part is, he has been dismissed 12 times by them, and the dot ball% is high at 30.
Statistically, Shubman Gill Unimpressive
When it comes to Shubman Gill, he has struggled against the slower bowlers. In 18 innings, he has scored 179 runs only where his average has been 18, strike-rate 124, been dismissed 10 times, with a dot ball% at 34. Other opener Abhishek Sharma has been a bit better, where he has scored 192 runs in 11 innings, been dismissed 7 times, but average is at 27, strike-rate over 200, and dot ball% is 31.
| Batsman | Runs Scored | Outs | Average | Strike-rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanju Samson | 327 | 12 | 27.2 | 157.2 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 192 | 7 | 27.4 | 208.7 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 873 | 15 | 58.2 | 147.5 |
| Tilak Varma | 244 | 7 | 34.9 | 142.7 |
| Shubman Gill | 144 | 10 | 17.9 | 124.3 |
| Axar Patel | 131 | 4 | 32.8 | 137.9 |
| Hardik Pandya | 433 | 10 | 43.3 | 113.1 |
Southpaw Tilak Varma has been much better here. In 17 innings he has scored 244 runs at an average of 35, been dismissed 7 times, and strike rate is at 142. Without any doubt, skipper Suryakumar Yadav looks the best equipped against spin. In 60 innings, he has scored 873 runs where his average has been 58, and strike-rate 147.5. He has been dismissed 15 times by spinners, and dot ball% is a lowly 27.
Suryakumar Yadav the Best
Coming to the three all-rounders — the numbers are mixed. Hardik Pandya averages 43 against spinners, but his strike-rate drops drastically to 113 only. Axar Patel, in his limited opportunities has been good — where he has scored 131 runs in 18 innings, at an average of 32, and strike rate is at 138. But where the problem arises is, India’s dedicated finisher — Rinku Singh has bad numbers against spin.
In 15 innings, he has managed only 123 runs and his strike-rate drops to only 107. The dot ball% is unbelievably high at 38. So, that just makes it pretty clear, that if Indian batting has to do well in the Asia Cup, the bulk of the scoring will have to come from the bats of Surya, Tilak, Abhishek, while the likes of Shubman, Sanju will have to show massive improvements.
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